Howl of a Phantom
by NedFynTanon
Summary: Danny Fenton was born in a world full of benders and spirits. But no matter what, one thing will always stay the same; his parents obsession with the paranormal. Which is only part of the reason the Fire Nation attacked his father, with Danny caught right in the middle. But only Schim can save him from a cruel fate. (NO OCs! Avatar AU takes place in book 3 (fire) and has the Ganng)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello readers, my name is Ned (my username, not my actual name obviously), and I'll be the narrator of this story. This is probably going to be brief since I still have two other stories I have to write. However I had to get this one off of my chest and into a computer (or I guess now a lot of them). So I'm going to give all of you a nice story that I thought would be fun to write and that some of you were in the mood to read.**

**This is going to follow Danny's life for the most part... so in other words his parents and sister are probably going to be the same to some degree, that also counts for Vlad *shiver* however he is not half ghost since there is no technology advanced enough in the story to make a ghost portal. He simply had no chance at getting Maddie to be his wife and still hates Jack for 'taking' her from him.**

**Sam and Tuck are a different story. Tuck simply won't be in this story at all since there is no technology and I simply can't imaging him without it. Sam is probably my greatest idea yet, but she won't be coming in until the second chapter. So enjoy the story, however...**

**WARNING! REALLY SAD Character Death! You all have been warned!**

**~Ned**

* * *

Chapter 1- Only One Regret

Danny Fenton had never been considered 'normal' to the people in his village. It was not because he did anything wrong or strange. He had actually tried, for the majority of his life, to be as ordinary and obedient as one could be in his village. However, thanks to his parents, being considered 'normal' to anyone was next to impossible.

Danny's parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, were eccentrics to say the least. Their life goal had always been to reach the spirit world to either talk to or capture a spirit to study on. However, since the only living person in the world that could enter and exit the spirit world willingly was the Avatar. Their goal was a lost effort, but that never stopped them from trying to achieve it.

Thanks to them Danny's family was the laughing stock of the majority of the citizens in their village, and a risk to the soldiers patrolling there. This may come to a huge shock to most, since Danny was such a good kid, but he was born and raised in the Fire Nation. Where, even in school, everyone is forced to pledge their allegiance to a picture of their 'mighty' Fire Lord Ozai.

In the Fire Nation they frowned upon most things involving spirits since they wanted to be an advanced society. Then, for the Fire Nation to advance they burned forests to the ground and polluted seas and lakes with their newly found industries to the point that nothing could live or grow where they treaded. However, whenever they do that the spirits that protect the areas will sometimes attack or even rob the soldier or villages in the area for vengeance.

So when people are actually trying to _look for_ and _talk to _spirits the Fire Nation could, or possibly, would see it as a threat towards their advancement. The soldier in the area had tried to stop Danny's parents from perusing their goals on multiple occasions, but they refuse to listen. They were researchers after a goal, and knowing Danny's father, they were not going to stop trying to achieve it without a fight.

"Hey Danny!" Jazz ran up to him after he got out of school. "How were your classes?"

"Fine," Danny simply stated as he continued to walk, passing his sister without a second glance.

Jazz was slightly taken back by his attitude, but since he did it regularly, she bounced back rather quickly. "Do you have any planes for this afternoon?"

"Nope."

"Then do you want to come to the circus with me, they are saying there will be a flying bison there."

Danny finally stopped walking at her last three words. "Did you say flying bison… as in _the_ flying bison that the air nomads used to ride one hundred years ago?"

Jazz smiled, happy to finally get her brother's attention, even if it was for a limited about of time that was fleeing before her. "Yeah, there are even rumors going around that it's the Avatar's bison."

Danny let out a sigh as the curious gleam that was once in his eyes vanished, along with his attention. "Then it's probably a fake." He concluded as he started to walk away again. "Flying bison are extinct and the airbenders were practically soul bond to their bison. It's practically impossible for them to be separated, and if they were they would do whatever they could to get back together. And if the Avatar lost his, then the circus is about to have some major issues." Danny finished a smirk pulling on his lips.

Jazz let out a sigh, "You read Mom and Dad's books again didn't you." She concluded, not finding any other reason her little brother would know so much about such a simple topic.

Their parents had piles upon piles of books and scrolls to help them understand the spirits that dwelled in the spirit world, and since the air nomads were the closest people linked to the spirit world, it only made sense to get books about them. All of which Danny read and reread simply out of boredom, since he barely had any friends to hang out with.

"Yep," Danny answered her, his smile turning clever, "and thanks, but no thanks, the circus sounds bogus. Besides, don't you have firebending lessons to go to?" He stated, sending his sister a disapproving look.

Jazz let out a sigh, he had never been a fan of her training, but he had stopped complaining about it after he realized it was futile argument. "Yes, but I planned on skipping to spend the day with you. We haven't really gotten to a chance to talk to each other in months."

"That's because neither of us have the time, like right not for instance." Danny stated in an aggravated voice. "Now if you would excuse me I have to get home before dad decides to blow it up with another one of his weird experiments, again." He finished as he started to walk a little bit faster towards the house.

* * *

Jazz let out a sigh as she watched her brother flee from her, he had become very distant in the past few months and she could not blame him.

Either since Danny was little he had the great misfortune of not having the ability to bend fire, like she could. And it did not help him at all that here, in the Fire Nation, firebenders reigned supreme. It also did not help that their parents also had no bending abilities, so he was always considered more like them then Jazz ever was.

Jazz herself was a firebending prodigy; she was gifted with the art from their mother's side of the family; that they have yet to actually meet face to face. Jazz had taken a great pride in her ability, and whenever she had the chance she would show off to her younger brother. When Danny was little, he loved seeing the flames dance across her fingertips.

But now that he's older, he could not help but be jealous of how much she differed from their parents. It was because of her abilities that she was able to achieve more in life then Danny ever could, after all firebenders were on the top of the food chain in the Fire Nation, while being the son of two spirit researchers put him at the very bottom.

So Jazz could not help but feel sorry for her brother, and wish that somehow he could also bend the elements to his will. Maybe that way he could step out from under their parents shadow and get somewhere in life.

* * *

Danny let out a sigh as he turned around to find that his sister had not followed him. He loved his sister and all, but sometimes he could not stand to be around her. Actually most of the time he could not stand to be around anyone, so he did what any lonely teen would do, take a nice, relaxing, stroll into the woods.

To be completely honest whenever Danny went in there he felt totally at ease. The forest was one of the rare ones the Fire Nation had yet to burn down to make room for another blighted village or militia camp or industry. So he took whatever chance he had to go in and admire every little detail. After all if the Fire Nation had it their way there would not be any forests left, just ash, fire, and a lot of filth.

Alright, what he was thinking was probably treason to a certain degree, but hey, they were his personal thoughts so he was safe, to an extent. While Danny walked he looked around, trying to find the perfect tree he had become fond of sitting in. It was his personal alone spot that few people would ever find him in; it was also his place to think about life, and his parents.

Finally he found it and quickly climbed up onto this many branches until he found the one big enough to sit on. When he did he let out an exhausted sigh and stared out into the forest, letting the past few days' events play through in his mind.

For the past few weeks the Fire Nation soldiers that were stationed in the village had made it their job to come to his house and belittle his parents about their research. Normally Danny would not mind, after all, everyone in the village did it. However, the firebenders did a lot more than demean his parents, they had threatened them! That, Danny would not stand for.

However he could not do anything. He was just one kid, with no bending abilities what so ever, and his sister had, coincidentally, been practicing her firebending with her master, General Vladimir Masters, every time the soldiers came to the house.

Although Jazz was training with a General of the Fire Nation's fleet, she had no intention of going into the army. She had even told Vlad about her opinions, but he had insisted on teaching her, 'For old friends sake,' he stated.

Danny hated that man, for multiple reasons. One, he was the man in charge of the soldiers that went after his parents, although his parents play dumb and insist that it is a mistake and that 'Old Vladdy' would never do such a thing. Two, he hits on his mother… frequently! And third, he was one messed up fruit loop who tortures innocent people, just like the rest of the Fire Lord's homicidal army.

Danny let out a sigh as he leaned his head against the tree trunks and stared up at the sky that was slowly turning dark with every passing second. He knew he should hurry home before his parents worried, but he could not bring himself to do it. The forest was the one place he did not have to worry about the village's opinion of him, or how stubborn his parents were with something that was slowly ruining their family's lives. However when stars finally started to appear Danny knew he had to leave and get home.

So he reluctantly sat up and jumped out of the tree. He was not scared of heights; after all he had spent most of his childhood in the forest, climbing trees and, on occasion's, swan diving off of cliffs and into the river that ran throughout the forest. The forest was like his second home, if he could he would have ran away into the forest… if he could just learn how to survive in it without starving or becoming something else's dinner.

"There you are Danny, I was wondering where you went." His mother stated as Danny walked into the house. "Why don't you go wash up while I finish making dinner; it should be done soon."

"Alright," Danny said as he walked out of the living room and started to do as his mother told. When he got out he found his father sitting at the kitchen table, his mother was putting some food on his plate.

"Come sit down honey, dinner is ready and I want to hear about your day." His mother said a caring smile on her face. To any outsider she would seem like the most loving mother out there, but to half of the village, she was considered a nutcase, but the other half though of her as headstrong and a little suicidal when it came to her research with Danny's father.

"Thanks," Danny started as his mother put some food on his plate, "My day was pretty normal, nothing really interesting to report." He simply stated as he started to put some food into his mouth.

"Really, did Jazz not take you to the circus?" His mother asked a discouraged look on her face. "She said she would, and that there was a flying bison there to cheer you up."

"I don't need cheering up." Danny almost growled as he gripped his utensil a little tighter. His family had been worried about him for weeks now, thinking that _he_ needed help. "And no, we didn't go. The bison would have been a fake anyway."

Maddie's face became downcast, "Oh, well would you like to go camping tomorrow, Jazz and I planned it and thought it would be good for you."

"Yeah, you have been a little distant since Vladdy came to the village." His father jumped in, a wide smile on his face, but Danny only cringed at the fruit loop's name. "We all think that a camping trip is exactly what you need!"

Danny then abruptly stood up, finally having it with the conversation. "_I_ don't _need_ anything!" He yelled towards his parents. "However _our family needs_ plenty, like two parents who need to realize that getting to the spirit world is an impossibility!"

"But the Avatar can-," His father started, but Danny was not done.

"We also need a daughter, and sister, to be home half the time!" Danny added, "We also need those soldiers that are working for your _Friend, _by the way, to leave us alone. However, none of that is going to happen because you two continue to chase this fantasy that is only making us exiles to the village, and criticized by the entire nation!" Danny finally finished his breath seizing.

"What do you mean getting to the Spirit world is an impossibility?!" His father yelled, breaking the silence.

"Jack!" His mother yelled, but the damage had been done.

"I mean it is a futile dream that I refuse to be a part of anymore!" Danny yelled as he stormed out of the dining room and into his room and locked the door behind him.

* * *

Danny paced around his room for a couple of minutes, debating on whether he should really leave like he had threatened. However after he thought about everything that had been happened he finally came to the conclusion that leaving would be for the best for him. He could not stand being in this messed up village for one more second, he had finally had enough! He quickly gathered all the clothes he thought would be worth keeping, he also got all the valuables he could pack and set all of it on his bed. He had decided to totally ignore the voice in the back of his head that complained about how he could possibly survive in the forest all by himself, but after a while he decided to just wing it.

When everything was done Danny stood over the pack in front of him, staring at it. He did not know why he was hesitating it was probably the best bet for him to leave. He could get so far in life without his parents reputation holding him back. Heck, he could go to the Earth Kingdom and live a normal life. He had the looks to where no one would know where he was from; he might even be able to pass as someone from one of the water tribes.

He took a long deep breath, gathering his courage to leave, and then grabbed the pack and swung it over his shoulder. He was about to jump out of his window until he heard a loud explosion come from the font of the house. Fear found its way into Danny's heart and he immediately dropped his pack and ran to the front door. When he got there he was horrified by the sight in front of him.

He found his parents, standing in front of almost a dozen firebenders that where walking through the burning hole that used to be the front door. The ones that had made it into the door where poised to attack, and all of them where aimed at Danny's parents. Danny stared in shock, he knew he had to do something, his parents lived were on the line!

"Dad!" He yelled, not sure what else to do. However right when he did a few of the soldiers stared at him, but only one made a shiver run down Danny's back.

"Hold him, but remember your orders." The man yelled to his troops, a devious smirk on his face. "We need to keep him alive."

Danny's family froze at his words, _'Hold me?!'_ Danny though, as two of the soldiers at the front door started to walk towards him.

"You leave him alone!" Danny's mother yelled as she walked away from her husband and started for Danny, trying to come to his aid.

"Oh, that's right we need her out of the way as well." The man stated, a bored look on his face, but Danny could see the glee in his eyes. At his command, one of the two soldiers that headed for Danny started for his mother.

Hatred coerced through Danny as he finally realized what was happening. _'Vlad! That dirty, no good…'_ he thought but before his tirade could finish his father broke through it.

"Now see here!" Jack yelled, but before he could take a step towards his wife or son fire exploded near his feet.

"I wouldn't if I were you." The man that Danny concluded was Vlad's lieutenant stated. "We were told to keep them out of harms way, but you, well let's just say that that will be the fun part."

Anger pumped through Danny's veins at the all too apparent death threat towards his father. He started to storm towards the lieutenant, but before he could get to close his arms were grabbed from behind by the soldier he forgot had been told to grab him. "Hey!" He yelled, but no one paid him any mind.

The lieutenant then gave Danny's father one last evil grin before he yelled. "Now than men, open fire!" And just like that, the whole house lit up with red and orange flames that burned all in its wake, with Jack Fenton right in the middle of it.

"Jack/Dad!" Danny and Maddie yelled in horror, and when the flames finally stopped all that was left was a burned husk.

A million emotions coursed through Danny all at once, from sorrow, to pain, to fear, to downright wrath! Then just like that Danny made one swift move to escape. He head-butted the solder, that was ironically enough not wearing a helmet, and then stomped on his toe as hard as he could. He was immediately let go as the guard let out his howls of pain. However, Danny did not plan on escaping the man's grip to simply run away with his life. No he was out for vengeance.

Right when he got out he turned to the nearest guard and punched the front of his face as hard as he could. Unfortunately, this one was wearing a helmet, so Danny was not surprised when he heard a few loud cracks. He knew a few had been from his hand, that was now sending a lot of signals to his brain telling him about the pain, and the other was from the nose of the poor soldier that Danny had punched to hard the front of his helmet had dented. But despite the seething pain in his hand, Danny kept going. He ignored the shouts from the soldiers, telling each other not to kill him. However, Danny refused to be captured again as he punched whoever came his way with his good hand and kicked anywhere his feet were able to go. Let's just say a few solders ended up screaming like little girls.

When Danny had successfully gotten almost half of the soldiers in the house to submit, most of which did not really know how to fight in hand to hand combat, fire was finally introduced into the fight. Danny was able to successfully dodge a few, purely out of dump luck, but one finally came towards him dead on.

"Danny!" Maddie yelled as she charged into the fight and attacked the man firing the… well the fire towards Danny. However that still left Danny with the majority of the fire that was still coming towards him. All Danny could really think of doing was pulling up his arms to block the fire. Thankfully, it worked to save his life, but the flame still burned his arms pretty bad. But Danny kept going, and punched the man that his mom was attacking right in the kidney, sending his right to the floor.

However, that still left Danny and his mother against about six well trained firebenders, that had somehow surrounded them, all poised to attack, just like they were for Danny's father.

"We'll only give you this one chance, surrender or be killed!" Vlad's Lieutenant stated, anger clear on his face. Danny could tell that the man had not planned on him fighting back this much and taking down half of his men in the process.

"Never!" Danny stated as he spit on the man's boot, right before he took his last charge, right at the lieutenant. The man was so preoccupied with the spit on the tip of his boot he had not seen Danny until he was right on him. "This is for my father!" He yelled as he grabbed the man's head and slammed his against his knee, ignoring the pain it caused to shoot down his leg.

Danny let go of the man that fell back, blood pouring out of his helmet, where Danny had no doubt broken either a nose or a few teeth. "Kill him!" The man spat through the blood as he back away from Danny, obviously not too keen on being caught in the crossfire. Then just like that the same fire that had erupted not even five minutes ago lit up again, just not as bright since half of the men were either passed out or in too much pain to do anything.

However it was only aimed towards one person, Danny. Who went out with only one regret: Not being able to apologize to his father for discriminating his work and threatening to leave. But now might just be his chance to do just that.

* * *

**...Did I just do what I think I did... *cried in hands* I'm so sorry Danny! I had to do it! I swear I won't kill anyone else I promise!**

**Klemper- Don't make promises... *snicker* you can't keep *snicker***

**Youngblood- But those are the best kind! XD *burst out into uncontrollable laughter***

**...-_- You too watched The Amazing Spiderman again didn't you...**

**Bones- Yep, but in retrospect it was better than what they could have done.**

**Youngblood- Hey why don't you have a Teen Titan muse or an Avatar one?**

**Because I have enough trouble with you two, now stop talking and let me finish addressing the readers.**

**Youngblood- Fine, but I'll go make some calls for you. I'm sure that someone else would love to come help us make some more ideas for your stories :D**

***Sigh* Sorry once again for the chapter, but I promise no one else will die (No Laughing you two!). It was this one time that would just give me a good plot. But rest assured there will be another chapter, but I have one question for you all.**

**Do you all think Danny will truly die and become a spirit like Avatar Roku, or do you all think I will do something else that will turn Danny half spirit somehow, or make him stay Fenton for the rest of the story, and/or just somehow give Danny bending abilities out of nowhere (although I'm sure I can come up with some explanation) **

**You can also send me other ideas, but c****hose wisely. Because the person that guesses right might win a sneak peak into the next chapter that is coming out on sometime either this week or the next, it all depends.**

**Don't forget to review and give me your thoughts about the story. PMs are also encouraged for anyone who does not believe in pointing out my flaws publicly.**

**~Ned**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello once again readers. Here is the second chapter to The Spirit, however I have a few name changes that I wanted your opinions on. There is a poll on my profile that you all can go to and vote on, or even send me a PM of you suggestions. However, just because something got a lot of votes does not mean it will be the new name.**

**Oh, and I'm finally introducing Sam :D She is so far my favorite character I have ever thought of for this story, so please read and enjoy! :)  
**

**~Ned**

* * *

Chapter 2- A Schim in the Forest

When Danny thought about his death he expected it to be more peaceful, but now that it was actually happening he decided his expectations were just a bunch of crap. All he felt was pain, and a lot of it. He was sure it was from all the burns he had endured from the homicidal soldiers' fire blasts, but he was expecting to have died of shock before he could even feel the flames lick his body, unfortunately, he had felt every excruciating moment of it until he passed out.

"Drop them there." He heard the lieutenant state, and Danny felt his stomach churn with hatred. However not even a second later he heard something hit the ground, and then he quickly followed suit. More pain shot through Danny's body as he hit the ground, but thankfully it was softer than Danny thought was possible, so he let out no grunts of pain to alert the solders. Nonetheless that did not stop him from letting out a mental moan as he realized he was not dead, and was now going to die slowly, painfully, and alone.

"What do you think General Vlad will do when he finds out that we killed the boy?" A soldier asked from above him, fear all too apparent in his voice.

"I don't care, that little twerp deserved what he got." The Lieutenant retorted his voice filled with venom. Danny heard the other man shuffle, but he said nothing. "Let's go, Vlad is expecting us to leave the village before that woman comes to tell him what happened."

"Yes sir." The other man said and then Danny heard them walk off, finally leaving him alone, in who knows where... with who knows what.

All Danny could do was lie on the ground, without a single clue as to as to what he was going to do about his situation. He was sure he had died earlier, and quickly, but now he was officially dying a slow and painful death. He let out a sigh as he opened his eyes, pain shot threw him with the simple motion, but he refused to close his eyes, he had to at least know where he was dying.

Before he could get a good look around a big black form caught his attention. Danny looked at the form in front of him in confusion, until he finally recognized it. If Danny could, he would have jumped in shock, but his body would not allow it. In front of him was the charted corps of his father, luckily for Danny his father's face was not facing him, otherwise he would have been scarred for life, no matter how short it may be at this point.

Tears filled Danny's eyes at the sight. He was not sure if his father could truly see or hear him in the afterlife, but he had to say something. "I'm sorry Dad," Danny started, his vision blurred by the tears that fell from his face, "I shouldn't have snapped like I did… or attempt to runaway afterwards. You had every right to do your research. I'm sure that in the near future your research will be the talk of the century." A sad smile touched his lips, "I can't wait to see you again."

Danny let out a sigh as he closed his eyes again and let his body relax; hoping that his end would come soon. However the moment the thought crossed his mind he heard something walk towards him, and judging by the rhythm the steps made he guessed that it was probably an animal of some sort. Hope flourished in his heart at the sound, figuring that the animals would help his current predicament. However when he remembered his father's corps lying next to him he opened his eyes and his hope turned into horror.

Dismay coursed through Danny, the simple thought of his father's corps being desecrated any more left a foul taste in his mouth. His father died to protect his family, he deserved more than to have his body torn apart by hungry animals. Danny tried to get up, to find some way to protect the body of his father. He figured that burying it would be the best course of action, but after the intense pain that shot through him he realized that with the amount of burns on his body, his mission was probably impossible.

Nonetheless, when he heard that the steps of the animal getting closer Danny could not simply lie there, he knew he _had_ to move, so he did. He pushed past the pain and torture that the task had forced upon him and slowly got to his feet, fully prepared to protect his father the best he could. However, the pain he had gone through had caused his vision to blur and all he could seem to make out were just hazy figures that held no definite shape.

If Danny did not hear the animal come towards him he would have never known where it was, or where it was headed. So when he heard it stop right behind him, Danny knew that the animal was just a few yards away. "Stay back!" Danny croaked through his sore throat as he quickly turned around, ignoring the pain it caused to do so, but what he saw left him confused.

Despite the state his vision was in he could see a bright light in front of him, radiating off of one huge source. Danny looked at the light in shock, he knew the light could not be coming off of a torch or any fire for that matter since the light was a bright light blue, instead of the regular red and orange that Danny had seen all day. So that left one huge question in his head.

But despite his confusion, he still remembered why he was so determined to be standing like he was. There was an animal somewhere in or near that bright light and Danny refused to let it near his father. "I don't want any trouble, so shoo!"

"I am sorry for you loss." Someone spoke through the darkness, and Danny's heart swelled with hope at the sound of an actual person being here. "I promise, you father will come to no harm in this forest." The voice continued, and Danny briefly realized that the person was female.

Relief filled Danny at her words and he let himself drop back onto the floor. But he made sure to stay in a sitting position, not wanting his burned back to touch anything other than the cool night air. "Thank you." He breathed.

"It was no issue. Anyone who is willing to go through as much as you have for someone they love deserves my respect." She said and Danny heard the footsteps again. He was still confused by the sound. He was so sure that it was an animal, even now it still sounded like one was walking towards him, but the bright light in front of him only got brighter as the footsteps got louder.

"What is your name?" Danny had to ask.

"Schim." She said as both the footsteps and the light stopped moving, Danny was sure that they were right in front of him.

"Sam…" Danny said, testing the name, "it is beautiful." he thought out loud with a smile forming on his face.

"Actually it's Sch-… did you just say beautiful?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I think it fits you perfectly."

"But... H-how are your burns?" Sam stuttered, changing the subject.

Danny could not hold back a chuckle. "Hurts like hell, but worth every second." He said as he closed his eyes, and leaned back to be in a more comfortable possession, which was kind of hard to do. "However I wish I could have gotten one more hit on one of those soldiers' smug faces."

"Why did you fight those people in the first place?" Sam asked in confusion. "As far as I can tell you have no bending to defend yourself with and have next to no practice in the technique of fighting." Sam stated with slight anger in her voice.

If it were any other day at any other time Danny would have asked how she knew so much about him. However Danny refused to think about it too much, he was not going to question the girl's motives, after all she was willing to keep his father safe. "Because I couldn't just sit back and watch those men take everything I love. But at the moment I can barely see anything at all, so it's probably a good guess to say that I probably won't be trying to do anything like that any time soon."

"Are you blind?" Sam asked in horror.

"Not as far as I can tell, "Danny started, remembering how he was able to see only moments ago and the horrid sight that had awaited him, but he pushed the image away, "but my vision is a little blurry. I guess intense pain can do that to a person."

Sam paused for a moment upon hearing Danny's words. "You are very enduring to still be alive after what you have been through."

Danny let out a sad chuckle. "Yeah, just my luck, to spend the last moments of my life in complete pain and almost no way of seeing a thing… I still don't even know where I am."

Sam let out a few chuckles, "You are in the forest north of your village."

"Really?" Danny asked as he let a real smile forming on his face, despite the pain it caused him to do so. "So I'm actually going to die here, my second home of all places."

"Your second home?" Sam asked, clearly confused.

"I spend most of my time here whenever I get the chance. I actually almost ran away from home to live here not too long ago." Danny confessed.

Sam was quiet for a couple moments, as if she was deciding something. "Do you want to see it?" She asked.

At that Danny's eyes shot open to look at where he thought she was, however his vision was still foggy so all he could do was guess that she was in the glowing blue light in front of him. "What do you mean?"

"I can ease some of the pain for you, and help with your eyesight."

Danny paused, thinking about how that was even possible, until he remembered a book he had read, about the northern water tribe. The only reason his parents had it was because of the moon and sea spirits that resided there, but there were some info about the waterbenders abilities, one of which was healing. "Are you a waterbender?" He asked in shock.

Sam paused, but eventually spoke, "Something like that…" she started, but then quickly changed tones, "Do you want your eyesight back or not?" She questioned, it almost sounded like she was irritated.

"Y-yes." Danny stuttered, not sure if he was making the right decision. However when he felt something touch his chest he immediately felt a hundred times better.

The process was slow, but eventually some of his pain had dulled and he could see every tree around him and he could not help but smile in joy. Of course his vision was not one hundred percent better, but he did not complain, being able to see was good enough for him, no matter the quality.

"Thanks Sam." Danny said as he finally looked at where he thought he had last seen her. However what he found caused him to jump in shock. Instead of a regular girl he had been expecting he found something so much more, and it was not in the form of a girl.

In front of him was a fairly large black and white beast with bright purple eyes. To Danny it's body somewhat resembled a wolf bat, but the face had a lot more fur, and had a canine look to it, and there were no leathery wings.

As Danny continued to look he found that the beast was actually the sores of the bright light he had been seeing. The area literally glowed as the animal practically radiated the strange blue light. Danny was not sure as to what, or who he was looking at, but he knew one thing for sure, it was no ordinary animal.

"How is your vision?" Danny heard Sam asked, and the animal's head tilted with curiosity as the words floated through the air.

"I-its good… I think…" Danny said as he slowly leaned towards the beast, which only looked at him with deeper curiosity. Danny then held up a hand to touch it, to at least make sure he was not imagining the whole thing, but only got so far before it started to look at the hand in irritation.

"I am not a common dog that you can pet." He heard Sam say and Danny jumped in fright.

"S-Sam?" He asked in horror, "Wh-who…? What…" He started as he stared at the animal (or was it Sam?) not sure as to what to make of the situation. "Oh, I know what's happening," Danny stated, finally putting two and two together, but he only ended up getting fish, "I'm hallucinating. I ate something bad and now I'm in a horrible nightmare." Danny concluded, finding no other reason as to why he would be talking to a glowing black and white animal in the middle of a forest… _'Unless… No!' _Danny yelled in his head as he banished the thought before it could form all the way.

Sam's face then turned sympathetic. "I'm sorry Danny, but you are not in a nightmare nor am I a part of your imagination…" She started but then a worried look crossed her face, like she was trying to find something else to say, without it making Danny jump in fright, again. "I am the spirit of this forest, named Schim. I am just a phantom that lives to protect the forest and all that dwell inside of it."

Danny's heart stopped at one word, one that made the rest of her statement seem meaningless. _'Spirit… I'm talking to a spirit…'_ He thought, trying to wrap his mind around the situation. However a new question appeared in his head, one he refused to go unanswered. "So how do you know about me?" He asked remembering her past words. "You just said my name when I don't remember giving it, and even stated my poor fighting abilities a little while ago."

A shy smile appeared on the Sam's face, though it looked weird on her canine face. "I already gave you the answer, I protect all that dwell in my forest, and you dwell in here often."

Danny raised a suspicious eyebrow, as he tried to fill in the sketchy areas of her story. "Then why didn't you step in at my house?" Danny almost growled, "You could have stopped the firebenders before they even got a chance to kill my father."

Sam looked down, sorrow in her eyes. "I could not," she stated, "I only have power in my domain, and your village has not been a part of it for some time now."

Danny's eyes opened in disbelief, "My village was made in your forest?" Sam simply nodded, "Then why didn't you fight to protect it?"

"Because I saw no harm in its creation. I accept the need for homes and, like I said before, I protect those that dwell in my forest. I could only watch and hope you leave the rest of my forest in peace."

Danny only looked at Sam in confusion, "Then what will you do when the Fire Nation decides to burn your forest to the ground like all the rest?"

Sam looked up at Danny with anger as a growl escaped from her throat. "They have already tried."

Danny looked over at her with a raised eyebrow, "What did you do?"

"I did all that I could, I made it rain on what they burned. All I can really control is the weather and talk to the animals here. My power had become very limited thanks to all the villages that have colonized inside of my domain, and the soldiers that are trying to burn it to the ground."

Danny looked at Sam with sympathy, as he said the one thing that would probably change his life forever. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

* * *

Maddie did not know what to do. The Fire Nation soldier had practically torn her life apart, leaving her with nothing but her daughter. Even the house that she had lived in for years was barley standing. However even if the house was still in living condition she doubted she could ever have a full night of sleep there. It was no longer her home that she had raised her two beautiful children in, it was a house of horrors that would only force her to relive the two worst moments of her life.

Maddie tried to push the two images from her head, but they refused to leave and instead insisted on haunting her, even though she was far from the place it all took place. Whenever she imagined her loving husband, Jack, all that seemed to pop up was the lifeless charted corps that was now far out of her reach thanks to those appalling soldiers that decided to hide the bodies, despite the fact that Maddie had seen it all.

Then there was her youngest child, her baby, Danny. He was not as burned up as Jack was. As a matter of fact, there was barely any dark black patches of charcoal on his body compared to Jack, who was nothing but. But that small fact did not ease her burden, as a matter of fact it only made it ten times worse. His body was so lightly burned compared to her husband Maddie dared to hope that he was still alive.

But she knew it was a ridicules thing to hope for. Danny was taken just like Jack, if he was alive, he would not be for long, and that only made the guilt of the situation worse on Maddie, after all she could do nothing as her loved ones were dragged away, and no matter the amount of fighting she did changed that.

"Mom?" Jazz asked as she walked towards her mother, who was then knocked out of her thoughts thanks to her daughter. "Is everything alright?"

Maddie paused, not sure how to answer her, she knew she should tell her daughter everything. But she just could not bring herself to do it. She did not want her daughter to be miserable or guilty like she was right now.

"Maddie, are you alright, you seem like you have just seen a ghost?" Vlad asked as he jogged away from Jazz's side and towards Maddie's, worry etched into his face.

Then just like that, Maddie finally broke down, tears burst through her eyes as she ran to hug Vlad for comfort, not seeing anyone else she could truly turn to in her time of crises. "J-Jack an- and D-Danny!" She yelled through her sobs.

Vlad stiffened at her words, "Danny?" He asked, "What about him?"

"Mom, what happened to them?" Jazz asked as she finally ran the short distance between them. When she reached her mother's side she immediately put a reassuring hand on her back. "That happened to Dad and Danny, Mom?"

"They're gone!" Maddie yelled as she buried her face deeper into Vlad's clothes, more tears falling from her eyes. "They were both murdered by Fire Nation soldiers!"

* * *

Schim stared at the boy in front of her, not sure as to how she should think about his generous offer. There were a multiple of small ways he could help her beloved forest, however with the condition his body was in she doubted he could even stand up without issues, much less help save her forest, and she could only do so much for his pain. However there was one way to remove it, to actually heal him completely, but it was a solution she never actually thought she would be so desperate to do.

Many spirits have heard of this 'solution,' the one that would most likely save Danny from his awaiting fate, and also help her forest. However, despite the knowledge of the 'solution,' very few spirits had actually done it. The only one that Schim herself knew of was probably the best known spirit of them all, even the humans knew about her and her mate, but only a select few have actually seen them.

However what the spirit had done was simply save a child with her spiritual energy. What Schim planed on doing would do so much more. If she pulled it off successfully Danny would be able to not only survive his injuries, but actually help the forest more than Schim herself ever could in her current condition.

However there was one huge risk. Schim's energy was already low from all the destruction the Fire Nation had done to her treasured home. She knew that she was lucky to even give Danny any healing at all. If she miscalculated this in the slightest, she might just perish, and her forest along with it.

Schim looked back at the boy, terrified to try it. If she failed not only would it kill her, but Danny's wounds would not heal all the way and he would still die a slow death, all alone.

"Danny… do you truly want to help in your current condition?" Schim had to ask, even though she knew he could not. All she had done earlier was ease the pain, she had not erased it entirely.

"I won't know unless I try," Danny stated with a shrug off his shoulders, "after all this is all I really have left. Even if I could walk back to the village I'm sure the soldiers would kill me on sight."

Schim growled, _'They won't get the chance,' _she thought as the fur on her back stood on end. As much as Schim would hate to admit it, she liked the human boy in front of her, almost as much as she cared for her forest… almost.

"Take it easy Sam." Danny said with a laugh, and Schim was sure that if she could blush in this form, she would have, his laugh was so enchanting. "I have no intention of going back unless it's to retrieve my family and get the hell out."

Schim settled down some, but her fur refused to go down, "You mean you sister and mother?" She asked with curiosity, she did not remember seeing Danny talk to anyone else like he did with them.

"Yeah…" Danny paused, a curious look on his face, "Hey Sam?"

"Yes."

"What animal are you, I don't think I have seen any animal quite like you." He stated.

Schim smiled, not shocked by the question. "I am not an animal, per say, remember I am simply a spirit. But I know what you mean, the form I'm in is called a wolf." She stated looking down at her form a small smile touching her lips. "I have always found this form more interesting and meaningful."

Danny's eyes only grew even more interested, "What do you mean?"

Schim let a wide smile finally spread, but made sure to keep her teeth hidden, knowing how threatening it would look. "Wolves are considered very loyal creatures. They take pride in their pack and will do whatever they can to protect it. I would rather die than let my forest burn…" Schim paused as she caught her words, and then she stared at the boy in front of her again. _'Yes, I would defiantly die for it…'_ she thought as she let out a sigh. "Danny… will you truly help me protect my forest?"

Danny looked at her in shock, not seeing how the topic came up. "Well yeah, if it really means so much to you…" he started, still confused.

"Then can I put my trust in you… to protect it no matter what. Just like how you were going to protect your father?"

Danny paused as he looked back at the corps that was beside him, sadness touching his face. "I will… but we have to bury him… right here…" Danny said, one single tear falling from one of his eyes.

Schim nodded as she started to stand up on all fours, but as she did so the glow she had radiated started to glow brighter. It got so bright that Schim could not see Danny, who had been practically engulfed in the blinding light. When the light had finally receded, the glow that Schim once radiated was very feint to the point that Danny had to let his eyes adjust before he could see Schim again through the dark moonless night.

"Sam?" He asked in shock, and Schim could not hide her smile.

The light show that Schim had displayed had not been just for the fun if it, no it was to make the task of burying Danny's father simpler. She had changed her form to that of a fourteen year old girl, no older than the boy in front of her. Schim had changed her form only slightly to make Danny feel more comfortable. She had even made sure that the clothes she wore were normal, not at all like the all too elegant moon spirit's dress.

Schim's hair was a dark black and some of the back of it was tied back into a ponytail, but the majority of her hair was still down and reached the curve of her neck. Her eyes were still the same bright purple, just less fur surrounding it, and her clothes were the same style that the Fire Nation wore, just all white instead of different shades of red.

"Yep," Schim said as she held out her hand for Danny to grab, "now hurry up, we don't have all night to waste, we still have to protect my forest."

* * *

**If you're wondering why I named Sam, _Schim_, it's because it actually means _Phantom_ in Dutch... Dutch? you ask, well it was the only name I found that sounded like Sam. Sorry, I just really wanted her to keep her name ;) even if Danny was the first person to call her Sam. But I can't blame him for mishearing it, he was in pain and in all honestly I probably would not have even heard her throughout half of the conversation if I had half the burns Danny did. So that was my argument over that topic.**

**So... What did you all think about the chapter? Sad, interesting, or did you think I messed something up somehow? Please Review and PM me about the story, I want to hear all of your opinions about it.**

**~Ned**


	3. Chapter 3

**Good news everyone, I'm back and with some good news! First, thanks to all of your votes Spirit has now changed to Howl of a Phantom! Second, I'm finally going to finally give Danny powers! Lastly, in either the next chapter, or the one after that (I don't know for sure yet the chapters are still a work in progress) the Gaang is going to appear :D**

**I know a few of you were looking forward to them coming in, and I'm pleased to be able to give you guys what you want! So without further interruptions here is the third chapter of Howl of a Phantom!**

* * *

Chapter 3- His First

Danny did not know how to react to what he had just seen. He was sure that with the sort of day he had been having nothing could get any more bizarre, but he was proven wrong. Sam, a spirit he just met, had managed to changer her shape from a wolf, an animal that Danny had never heard of until today, to that of a girl, and a pretty attractive one too.

"Common Danny, we don't have all night to waste." Sam stated, a slight growl escaping her throat.

"R-right." Danny stuttered as he reluctantly grabbed Sam's outstretched hand. He would have lied if he said that when he got up he felt no pain at all, because he did, just not as bad as the first time.

"Are you alright?" Sam asked, worry clear on her face. "I tried my best to subdue the pain, but I guess it still wasn't good enough."

"It's fine." Danny lied as he forced a smile. Sam gave him an uncertain look, but did not push the subject further. "So what are we going to dig with?" Danny asked, not sure if Sam turning herself into a girl would really help the digging issue.

Sam simply smiled, "Shovels." She stated simply as she stepped away from Danny and towards a rather large tree.

Danny looked over at Sam with skeptical eyes. "Are we going to be making them by hand?" He asked a cocky smile on his face.

"In a way, yes," Sam answered smugly as she reached the tree and rested her hands on it. Right where her hand pressed against the bark the tree started to grow more leaves and the wood turned a richer brown color and soon started to sprout little patches of moss. However after only a few second the growing ceased and then the bark started to morph against Sam's hand, then in just a few short moments the wood stopped moving completely and Sam held two wooden shovels in her hands.

"Whoa," was all Danny could say about what he had just seen, although it still did not explain his shock enough.

Sam's smug smile widened and she walked back to Danny. He had not noticed it before now, but as Sam walked, the grass that surrounded her feet started to either grow, or become richer in color. He also noticed that the area she had been sitting in until now had at least a foot of grass surrounding a rough circle shape. However Sam either did not seem to notice the change, or simply did not care, and just handed Danny one of the shovels. "Let's get started." She said as she stuck her shovel into the ground and lifted the dirt, Danny quickly followed suit.

As they dug Danny could not help but flinch at every movement he made, and he had to move quite a lot. After only two minutes Sam actually yelled at him to go sit down, and he reluctantly left all the work to her. In all honesty he would never push all the work on a person like that, but given his injuries, and the fact that when Sam got angry it actually scared him, he could not argue. So he sat only a few feet away from her and waited patiently to be allowed to do something.

After only five minutes Sam let out a sigh and sat next to Danny, who could see that she was exhausted. However right when he was about to pick himself up to get some work of his own done she yelled at him again. "Stay!" She growled, and Danny fell back down with a sigh of his own.

"I'm fine," Danny started, clearly not liking his current predicament. "You need to rest and I can dig just as much as you can." Of course it was a lie, he doubted he could even get up without flinching ten times, but he needed to do something to speed the process along.

Sam gave him an annoyed look but Danny help his ground. "No," She stated, "you need to stay well rested, you hurting yourself further will not help either of us." She then closed her eyes and leaned back, a small smile forming on her face. "Besides, we already have all the help we need."

Danny opened his mouth to ask what she was talking about until he heard something rustle on the bushes behind him. Immediately his body stiffened and he slowly turned his head to see what had made the noise. However what he saw actually made him jump a little, in front of him was a huge seven foot tall platypus bear that stood on his two hind legs, like he was ready to strike Danny down in a moment's notice.

"Um, Sam?" Danny asked in a whisper so he did not draw in too much attention from the animal in front of him. "I'm not sure if this is what you meant by _'help'_, but we have company."

Sam's eyes snapped open and she looked over at the wild animal that was walking now towards them, still on it's hid legs. "Oh, there you are Casper! I was wondering where you had gone off to." Sam said as she stood up and started to also walk towards the large animal. Danny tried to get up and stop her, but his body was in no shape to do so, so he was forced to simply sit and wait for the platypus bear to eat his new found friend.

"I was trying to find something to eat when I got you message." The platypus bear stated, and then looked towards Danny. "Is he for me?"

Danny's heart stopped when the platypus bear started to speak, however when the last four words came out of its mouth he was sure he was about to have a heart attack. "NO!" Sam yelled. "Danny here is our guest and is actually going to be helping us. So unless you want those firebenders to burn your home to the ground you will not harm or offend him in anyway, you hear me?"

The platypus bear looked depressed by Sam's words, but did not argue with them. "So why am I here if not to eat the boy?"

"You are here to help him. He and his father were attacked by firebenders, and his father did not make it." Sam's face then turned sympathetic, but she continued. "He needs your help to bury him."

Both Danny and the platypus bear looked at Sam in shock. "You want what?!" they both asked in unison.

"Please Casper," Sam pleaded, "I promise, if you do this our forest will not only survive the firebenders attacks, but it will flourish afterwards."

The platypus bear, now known as Casper, held a skeptical look, but soon let out a sigh. "Fine, but when this is done I get to help attack those firebenders."

Sam's face became worried, but she reluctantly nodded. "Alright, just… be safe when it happens."

Casper nodded and then got on all fours and started walking (or was he crawling?) towards the hole that Danny and Sam had started, and began to dig. All throughout the time he dug he kept giving Danny weird looks that he could not interpret, thanks to all the dirt and fur covering him.

When he was done he climbed out of his five foot deep hole and sat on the edge, totally ignoring Danny's father and just focusing on Danny. Sam on the other hand took the initiative and carefully put Danny's father in his grave. "The job is done," Casper said now looking back as Sam, "if you want the boy to mourn for his lost he should do it know, before I put the dirt back."

Sam nodded and looked at Danny, "Any last words?"

Danny opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. Of course he had stuff he wanted to say to his father, but he had already said a large majority of what he wanted before Sam found him. Besides he could not bring himself to say anything more with a huge platypus bear named Casper looking at him. "Goodbye dad, you were a good father until the end."

Sam gave Danny a sad smile as she put a hand on his shoulder, "From what I saw, he was one of the best men that ever lived in that village, he would be very proud of you." Danny nodded as a loose tear fell from his eye. Sam gave his shoulder one more squeeze before she looked over to Casper and gave him a nod to finish.

Casper briefly acknowledged this gesture before he started to push the dirt back into the hole, finishing the burial. "Now Schim," Casper said when the dirt was done being put in place, "will you please tell me how exactly is this… boy is going to help save the forest. He can barely help himself."

"Hey!" Danny argued. "I took down at least half a dozen Fire Nation soldiers before they were able to take me down. I can handle myself just fine!"

Casper looked at Danny, shock clear on his face, "Schim… why is this boy talking to me as if he heard me?"

Sam looked over at Danny, a sympathetic look on her face once again, "Because I gave him some of my spiritual energy to ease his pain."

"Y-you what?!" Casper yelled, now looking at Sam in horror, or at lease Danny guessed it was horror based on his voice, since he still could not interpret the animal's features. "Do you know how dangerous that is in your current condition?!"

"Of course I do!" Sam yelled back. "However this is not about me, this is about my forest!

"That may be," Casper started again, "but how do you plan on saving the forest if you're de-"

"Casper!" Sam interrupted in frustration. "I know the consequences, and have thought them out. I may be weakened at the moment but Danny on the other hand will be able to do so much more than I ever could if I succeed."

"What do you mean '_if you succeed?'_" Danny asked, breaking into the conversation. "What exactly is it that you plan on doing?"

Sam and Casper turned to look at him. Both of them had looks that clearly said they had forgotten that he was there, which Danny was slightly offended by. Sam then shot Casper a menacing scowl as if to say _'I swear; if you say another word, you'll wish you were never born.'_

However the scowl quickly vanished as she turned to look at Danny. "Danny, can you stand up for a second?" Sam asked and a sweet voice that made Danny both hesitant, yet totally willing to comply, it was a weird feeling to say the least. However despite his inner turmoil Danny's body complied, but in doing so a lot of pain signals were then shot towards his mind. "Good," Sam said with a sweet smile as she walked over to him, and Danny could not help but feel even more conflicted by the way she was looking at him. The smile on her face seemed kind, yet Danny could not help but feel like some sort of prey, "now this is what I mean." Sam finished as she grabbed whatever remained of Danny's shirt and pulled him towards her.

Danny expected pain from her quick actions, like a punch or some other form of physical assault, but what actually happened left him a little bewildered… alright, he was _totally_ bewildered. Why, you may ask, well because Sam did the total opposite of what he expected, instead of feeling pain, he actually felt a very pleasant kiss!

Danny's mind froze at the sudden contact, not sure as to how to react. Of course if he ever said he disliked the interaction it would be a flat out lie, as a matter of fact he enjoyed it, just like any fourteen year old teenager would. So no one could blame him for kissing her back after getting over his initial shock. To Danny it was perfect, and he was more than willing to allow it to last forever. Nonetheless, all good things must come to an end, and Danny could not help but feel slightly disappointed when Sam pushed them apart. However his emotions were quickly extinguished by a burning sensation that wracked his whole body.

It started in his chest, then, like a flame, it started to spread throughout his veins, and in a matter of seconds his body was wrenched with pain. Danny could not help but curl up in a ball, hoping to rid the pain by making himself smaller, it did not help in the slightest of course. In the background he could hear Sam yelling at him in horror, apparently just as shocked as Danny was from the turn of events.

Thankfully, after what felt like a millennium the pain finally started to die down, and Danny could not help but pant from exhausting.

"Danny!" Sam yelled and Danny could fell something touch his cheek, but he could not find the will to open his eyes just yet. "How did… wha- What did you do?!" Sam yelled once again, except now she sounded more frustrated than worries, although Danny could not even begin to understand what she was talking about. His mind was still a little groggy, but he could not tell if it was from the kiss, the pain, or from a combination of the two.

"Wh-What did _I_ do?" Danny had to ask as he finally opened his eyes and saw Sam looking down at him, her face a mixture of worry and pain.

"YES!" Sam yelled, "I was trying to give you more of my spiritual energy, but… but then… something happened! You were not supposed to fall down in pain like that, and I _know_ I did not mess anything up! So, what did _you_ do?!"

"Wait a second, spiritual energy…?" Danny started to ask, remembering the past conversation about saving Sam's forest and how she had a chance of succeeding if she did something with Danny. It was then that Sam had kissed him. In that instant, Danny finally plugged some of the pieces together. "Wait a second… you kissed me to give me that…'spiritual energy?!'" He was not sure if he should be pleased to finally have his first kiss, or total freaked and/or pissed that it was stolen from him simply to implant something into him… alright so he did say he would help Sam with the forest, and she did worn him, but still, it was his _first kiss_!

Sam scowled down at Danny, "Of course, how else was I supposed to get it into you without having any escape and be wasted into the wind. I barely had any to give, I couldn't waste a drop!" She clarified, "However like I said before you were not supposed to fall pain like that…" Sam then shook her head, "That does not matter right now, what matters is my forest, and guessing by your looks I'd say you are more than ready." She said as a devious smile replaced her frustration.

However Danny's confusion only grew, "My looks?"

"Yeah!" Sam said with a wide smile, "You can't tell me that you expect to look exactly like you did after receiving spiritual energy can you?" She then stood up and walked over to a tree and swiped her hand across the trunk, in that instant a thin layer of ice coated a small portion of the tree. Danny started at the ice in wonder as he saw Sam's reflection mirrored in the ice. "Come here." Sam instructed, and Danny reluctantly complied, shocked to feel no pain shoot through him as he stood.

However, when Danny got to the tree he was shocked to see someone else stare back at him. The boy looked about the same age as him with weird glowing blue tattoos under his glowing green eyes, and snow white hair with a large highlight on the top of his head that was the exact same shade of glowing blue as his tattoos. The boy was also glowing, just like Sam did when she was a wolf. Danny took a startled step back to only find the boy do the same with a horror stuck look on his face.

Danny did not know what to make of the sight, so out of curiosity he did the same thing he did when he saw Sam as a wolf, he lifted his hand to see if the boy in the ice was real. Sure it may not be the smartest thing to do since he would most likely touch ice when he reached out, but he was shocked to see the boy do the exact same action at the exact same time. It was then that Danny finally made the connection.

"What… What happened to me?" He asked now grabbing his snow white hair to make sure the ice mirror was not lying to him, it was not.

"Spiritual energy has a lot of effects on a human's looks. In the Northern Water tribe there was a princess who's hair turned just as white as yours after receiving spiritual energy by the moon spirit. However that was just a touch, she never had as much spiritual energy as I gave to you until the Fire Nation attacked her tribe and killed that very spirit. It was then that she gave up the energy that kept her alive to become the new spirit of the moon. When that happened the princess's inner personality changed her form in a more extreme case, just like you.

"The princess was a kind soul with an elegant and caring personality, so when she became a spirit her looks and clothing matched that. She really is a sight to behold if you ever get the chance to see her." Sam said as she let a tender smile touch her lips. "You on the other hand," Sam started as she pointed at Danny, "have been a very strong person until the end, so I guess I should not be surprised by your looks and choice of clothing."

Immediately after hearing that Danny looked down and was shocked to see that his clothed had also changed along with his looks. He wore a white furred shoulder plate on his right arm and an arm band on the other. His clothes were white, blue, and a dark grey that was dark enough to almost be considered black. The designs seemed like they came from one of the Water Tribes, yet still had a touch of Fire Nation included. He also found more glowing blue tattoos on the back of his forearms right underneath his elbows, one underneath the arm band, and more on the back of his hands.

Danny was sure that if his appearance had not looked so cool he could have freaked out a long time ago, however since they did, he was totally excited. "This is awesome!" Danny yelled as he examined his clothing's more closely and then looked back at the ice mirror to look at his changed features.

When Danny looked at the mirror he could still see his old face staring back at him. He still has the same nose, eyes, and mouth shapes and hair style, the only difference where the tattoos and the change of his eyes and hair color. He was sure that if he walked into town at the moment no one would recognize him, but they would probably be a little freaked out by the fact that he was glowing. All well, nothing he could do about that now.

"Well I'm glad you like it." Sam said with a small laugh.

"Yes, very nice, he is a spirit now. So when do I get to attack some Fire Nation soldiers?" Casper asked shocking Danny, who had totally forgotten that the large platypus bear was there.

"Later Casper, I still have to show Danny the ropes, after all he still does not know how to use my abilities yet." Sam said with a wide smile. "But don't worry, I'll tell you when it's time."

Casper nodded, "Alright, then I'll go get something to eat since the boy is not on the menu." He said as he stood up on all fours and started to walk (crawl?) back into the bushes.

"Um… Sam… would he have seriously eaten me if you had not stopped him?" Danny had to ask.

Sam looked back at Danny in shock, like he had spontaneously grown a second head, Danny quickly sneaked a glance at the mirror just to be sure, he saw nothing so the sort. "Of course, he is still a wild animal, and everything in the wild has to eat. Now, let's get started, our first priority; icebending!"

Danny looked at Sam with a worries look on his face, "Don't you mean waterbending?"

"Nope, I find it hard to bend regular water, ice on the other hand I can do perfectly, so I just call it icebending." Sam stated with a shrug as she started to walk towards Danny's father's grave. "It comes with the turf I suppose."

"What do you mean waterbending isn't your strong suit?" Danny asked as he jogged to her side.

"Danny, do you see any large lakes or oceans anywhere near my forest?" Sam said as she crouched down in front of the grave.

"Well, no but you have a stream."

"A small stream," Sam clarified, "that's how I'm able to somewhat bend water. But ice is my turf, you want to know why?" Sam asked with a wide smile.

Danny looked at her in confusion, not sure how ice could be her turf if she barely knew how to bend water. "No."

Sam then rolled her eyes. "You lived so close to my forest yet you seem to forget what happens four to five months out of the year." She then let out a sigh, "Snow, my forest gets the most snow than any other area in the Fire Nation. Strange, I know, but it was one of my strongest abilities before my forest started to shrink."

"Oh," Danny said as he looked down, feeling a little guilty that he brought that subject up again.

"No worries," Sam said with a smile as she put her hand on the head of the grave, "with you here I'm sure that we can get me and my forest back to normal soon." Then right when she said that her hand moved up and a large thing of ice appeared. "Now, what do you want me to write on your father's grave?"

* * *

"I never… thought… that bending… would be this… tiring!" Danny got out through pants as he rested his arms on his knees and slouched over, totally exhausted from training. Danny had to admit, the first ten minutes had to be some of the best moments he had ever experienced, after all he was finally able to bend an element, even it if was a limited form of one. However that ten minutes became multiple hours, and Danny could not help but feel the need pass out.

Sam let out a smile, "Of course, you didn't expect it to be a simple walk in the park did you?"

"No… but I also didn't think… we would be practicing… until daybreak!" Danny exclaimed through paints as he pointed at the rising sun. He had been practicing all night!

Sam looked at the sun in confusion, but then realization quickly passed through her face. "Oh, sorry about that, I usually never paid attention to something as simple as time."

'_Simple?'_ Danny thought, but did not push the matter, "Well… I don't know about you… but I would kill… for a good… night's sleep!" Danny said as he finally fell to the floor, still gasping for air. "T-think we could… continue tomorrow?" He finally got out as his eyes finally closed and his breathing started to settle.

Sam stared at the sight in front of her in surprise. "But Danny…" Sam started worry creasing her forehead, "spirits don't sleep." However her shock and worry only grew as a ring formed around his waist, and in a bright light the rings split, one going up, the other down, and before her very eyes, Danny's form changed. Sam stared at the sight, not sure as to what to make of it.

In front of her was, of course, Danny, but it was the Danny she had grown so accustom to seeing, the one with raven black hair. However he was still slightly different, all the tattoos he had were still there, except they were no longer glowing and were now red, instead of blue. His hair also had a large red highlight on the top in the exact some place his other form had the blue highlight.

Then there were his clothes. They still resembled his other clothes but they now mostly resembled Fire Nation styled clothing then water tribe clothes. The colors also seemed to have changed, what was once blue was now red, and what was white was not black, however the grey had stayed the same except it may have lightened up a little.

Other than those significant changes Danny still looked the same, not that Sam really minded that. The only issue she was worried about was _why_ he changed his form like that, and so far, Sam did not like the ideas that were forming in her head.

* * *

**Thanks everyone for your support throughout this story, and sorry again for updating so late but I'm writing this story as fast as i can, and ideas are flowing so hopefully this story will not end up having to many long breaks.**

**So, if you want me to post the next chapter ASAP I need a majority of you to review! So hop to it before I lose my inspiration!**

**Youngblood- Yeah!**

**Klemper- Because we might just run away from this story like we are for X Phantom!**

**So please Everyone review, I don't like it when those two runaway! D:**

**~Ned**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello readers, I have chosen to update every other week just like with The Runaway in Jump. However I would have preferred to update tomorrow, but a friend is coming over and I didn't want to wast any of my time with her. So here is the chapter a day early, so you can all thank Ash for that ;)**

**Now on to some good news, the Gaang is in here! YAY! So without further interruption, here is the next chapter of Howl of a Phantom.**

**~Ned**

* * *

Chapter 4- One Last Glimpse

Maddie paces around the largest living room she has ever probably been in for what seemed like forever, but had yet to come up with an answer. She had to admit, Vlad was very generous in his offer to move both her and Jazz into the Fire Nation Capital to live with him, well until they got back on their feet at least that least. However Maddie felt that if she took the offer she would be betraying Jack, and for some strange reason Danny.

Jazz had already given her fairly strong opinion on the matter; she wanted to go with General Masters. Maddie let out an exhausted sigh and looked out the window of Vlad's house, or was it a manor (?). The view was spectacular; the manor lied on top of a rather large hill and Maddie could see the large green forest that seemed to be the symbol of health. Even though it was the middle of summer every leaf in the distance seemed green and rich, as if the strong rays of the sun chose to give the leaves some sort of special treatment while it burned everything else until it turned a sickly yellow-brown.

Maddie and Jack had always suspected it was the work of a spirit. However no matter how often they went inside and practically begged to see the spirit that resided there, they saw nothing, just a luscious green paradise. Then again, that never seemed to damper Jack's spirit, he always did have a strong will and stubborn attitude that never seemed to want to give in.

New found tears worked their way into Maddie's eyes at the memories of her deceased husband. Of course Vlad had put together a small group of soldiers to look for the rogue ones that killed her husband and son. Nonetheless Maddie still felt like crying for her lost family, but she forced herself to push the memories and her tears away, not wanting to show Jazz how weak she was. Someone had to be strong, to show Jazz that things would eventually get better.

"Morning Maddie, the view is lovely, isn't it?" Vlad Masters asked as he found his way next to Maddie in the window.

"Very," Maddie stated while still looking out to the forest and trying to avoid eye contact with the General. After all, she was still not sure about his offer, despite Jazz's thoughts in the matter.

When Maddie was younger she and Vlad used to be a dear friend, but after she found Jack and they got engaged Vlad then decided to put his firebending to good use and joined the army. Maddie has not seen him for twenty years and had barely recognized him when he arrived a month or two ago when he was stationed here. He was not much older than Maddie, but that did not stop his usually black hair from turning totally grey. He wore his hair in a tight bun that all the high ranking men in either the army or society wore. He also had a silver beard to go with his hair.

Vlad looked over at Maddie, sympathy on his face. "I deeply apologize for last night." He then sighed. "I guess my concern for you got the better of my common sense. I should have considered your situation before blurting out suck preposterous ideas such as you moving to the Capital with me."

Maddie looked over at Vlad in shock. An apology was the last thing she expected out of him. "Oh, no Vlad, your offer was very generous. It's just… everything is happening too fast, I just need some time to process everything, that's all."

Vlad then shook his head, "Take all the time you need, the Fire Lord does not need me back for quite some time." A smile then stretched across his face. "I'm sure that whatever you decide will be for the best, for both your and Jasmine's future."

* * *

'_C'mon Danny,'_ Said boy heard Sam say through the darkness that was his dream, _'we still have a lot to go over; you can't sleep all day!'_

"Five more minutes," Danny mumbled back as he rolled over, ignoring his dream figures advice.

'_Do I look like your mother? When I say get up I mean get up!'_ Danny was about to comment, but before he could he felt something hit his back and before he knew it he found himself face down in water.

"Ahh!" Danny gasped as he stood up to save himself from drowning. When his mind finally cleared of sleep and water he found himself waist deep in a small spring, but as far as Danny could tell he was soaked to the bone. "What was that for?" Danny asked as he looked up to find Sam looking down at him in aggravation.

"You fell asleep in the middle of practice last night, so now we are behind schedule!" Sam yelled irritation clear on her face. "The Fire Nation could attack at any moment and all you know how to do is move frozen water!"

"Hey, I would consider that an accomplishment since I have never bended a single element in my life!" Danny argued while climbing out of the stream. _'Sam was right,'_ He began to think as he stared back at the spring, _'it is pretty small.'_

"That may be, but now we have more to cover than I originally thought!" Sam argued, eyeing Danny with narrowed eyes.

"What do you mean, did you think of more stuff we could do last night?" Danny asked, his heart jumping with excitement.

"It's more like I realized something." Sam said as she walked towards him. Then out of nowhere she hit the top of his head.

"Ouch, what was that for!?" Danny yelled in protest as he shielded his head in case she decided that one hit was not enough.

"For making our situation more complicated!" Sam yelled, as she opened her arms in a gesture towards him. "I mean… look at yourself!"

Danny gave Sam a confused look, but complied and was shocked to see that his clothes and tattoos had changed since last night. Instead of his old water tribe clothes they now looked like they belonged in the Fire Nation again; and his tattoos were now red. Plus, Danny was now not glowing at all like he was last night. "W-what happened!?" He asked as he pulled his hair in front of his face and found that it was now back to his usual raven black shade.

"You happened! You gave me some of my energy back, turning you into only half spirit; a _Halfa!_" Sam clarified, but only ended up confusing Danny more.

"Halfa… Gave you back your energy…? Wait a second, I didn't even know I was receiving your spiritual energy, how could I have given it back?!"

"How would I know, all I know is that you did! So now I have to get you back into your spirit form and I don't even know where to start!" Sam yelled as she walked away from Danny in aggravation. "The only person I know of that would know is Koh, but I would never turn to him for advice even if my life depended on it! That no good…two faced… stealing fiend!" Sam practically growled that last part out, and judging on her temper Danny decided not to ask who Koh was.

"So what do you suggest we do now since I can't turn back?" Danny asked, not sure how to calm his new friend down.

"I guess I could still try to teach you my icebending since you will require a spiritual body to do a majority of what I plan on teaching you."

"Let's get to it!" Danny exclaimed.

"Alright, first we need to go over the basics, you remember those, right?" Sam asked a smile appearing on her face from Danny's enthusiasm,

"Of course," Danny said as he walked over to the stream and tried to bend it like he learned yesterday. However as soon as he tried nothing happened, so he tried again, and again, but got nothing. "Are you serious?!" He yelled, as he tried once more with the same affect.

"Just go through the motions there is no need to think it through." Sam said in encouragement.

Danny took a deep breath, allowing his mind to clear, but he only got the same exact affect. "This is ridicules! I'm just as useful in this form as I was yesterday!"

Sam let out a sigh, "I guess we have no choice but to find out how to change you back to your spirit form then."

Danny let out a low growl. "This is pathetic!" He yelled. "Not only am I stuck like this, but I'm also useless, what next?!"

"My lady!" A voice said and Danny looked to see a small fire ferret standing up on his two hind legs next to Sam. "Firebenders are coming from the south side of the forest!"

Danny rolled his eyes, "Of course they are." _'That is where my village is, and where Vlad is most likely trying to make out with my mother.'_ Danny could not help but let out a shiver as he almost gaged at the thought.

Sam looked over at Danny, worry clear on her face, but she quickly looked back at the ferret. "Go tell Casper." She simply said and the ferret hurriedly nodded and left, not even pausing to wonder why Sam would ask him to get the platypus bear.

"What about me?" Danny asked stepping up so that they were next to each other.

"You will stay here and try to turn back into your spirit self." Sam quickly stated as she let a bright light swallow her and then reveal a black and white wolf when it was gone. "I'm going to get rid of the intruders." She growled as she then flew towards the south, her feet barely even touching the ground as she ran.

Danny stared at the direction she went, totally shocked by her course of action. "W-wait a second," He began to yell, "you said you were weak!" then, without even beginning to think any of it through, Danny raced after her.

While Danny ran he was amazed by his endurance. Before today he could barely run from school and back without getting winded. Now he could run three times that distance and feel perfectly fine. So when he got to the area that the firebenders were he felt perfectly exercised and was ready to face anything they threw at him, well besides maybe fire. Danny was still not sure if being half spirit meant he was immune to third degree burns.

When Danny actually saw the half dozen benders he swiftly hid behind a tree, waiting for any sigh of fire or Sam. "Danny, what are you doing?" a whispered growl asked from next to him.

'_Speak of the devil and she shall appear,'_ Danny thought with a sly smile as he turned around to face Wolf Sam. "I'm here to help, I may not be an icebender at the moment, but I can still fight."

"I told you to learn to turn back to a spirit, not come fight firebenders as a human." Sam argued.

"That may be, but I decided to ignore that command. After all you said you could only do so much in your current state, so I'm lending a helping hand. You know both you and Casper need it."

An all too apparent scowl appeared on Sam's furry wolf face, and Danny simply smiled deviously at it. He did not know where all this courage came from, but he did not regret its presence. "Fine, but try to avoid getting too deep into their ranks," Sam said in defeat, "or you will be surrounded."

"Yes maim!" Danny said quietly as he gave her an army solute before he looked back at the Fire Nation soldiers that walked through the forest. They seemed to be looking around, like they were trying to locate a missing item or pet.

"This is stupid." One man said as he walked in front of the rest of the group. "General Masters had already sent those soldiers all the way to Ba Sing Se; they are probably half way there already!"

"That may be, but we have our orders, look around the best we can and then report back." Another commented as he searched the bushes.

"This is still ridicules!" The same man yelled. Danny fidgeted slightly at how close he was getting to his and Sam's hiding spot. "I mean, sending a dozen soldiers to kill one man and steal his wife! We are soldiers, not puppets that Masters can use as he pleases!"

Danny smiled, liking the guy a little bit more than the rest of his party, especially after he referred to Vlad as 'Masters' and not 'General Masters.' "Shut it, you want to end up like Rong?!" The soldier stated as he stopped looking at the bush and stared at his friend instead. "He talked bad about Master and was never seen or heard of again!"

The man that was now only one foot step away from seeing Danny and Sam stopped abruptly and looked back at his comrades with rolled his eyes. "That is just some stupid story to scare us into behaving. I'm sure that Rong is perfectly fine and on another Fire Nation ship."

"Fine, but when you disappear, I just want you to know that I told you so."

The man rolled his eyes once again before as he turned back towards Danny's hiding spot and took the last step that would reveal his and Sam's position. _'Alright here it goes.'_ Danny thought to himself as he quickly stood up and grabbed the soldier's chest plate and pulled him into the hiding spot. He then landed on quick blow to the man's temple, successfully knocking him out.

"M-Mang?" One soldier asked, Danny guessed they were looking for the man that was now lying unconsciously in between Danny and Sam.

"NOW!" Sam yelled and Danny heard a loud growl as Sam and Casper jumped out of their hiding spots and each pounced onto one of them men.

Danny quickly followed and immediately found himself having to avoid a fire blast. "Whoa!" He yelled as the fire almost singed his eyebrows, _'Alright, so I might not be immune to fire.'_ Danny guessed as the fame licked his face. Once he got over his shock he quickly landed a punch into a firebender's gut.

However another fire blast came at him and he quickly side stepped and tried to land a blow at the bender, but unfortunately the man was farther than Danny originally thought, so his punch missed by a few feet. The one good news was that something happened that Danny did not expect to happen, but had always hoped would ever since he saw his sister do it when she was four. For the first time in his life; Danny finally firebended.

Shock and excitement filled Danny's veins, however only one showed on his face. A large thrilled smile stretched from ear to ear as he tried to shoot another stream of fire out of his fist. Of course the blast was not as perfect as his sister's, but that did not put a damper on Danny's enthusiasm.

He watched with interest as the two firebenders he just blasted were sent back and knocked unconscious as they hit two very strong trees. Then with that the few firebenders were all knocked out, Casper and Sam looked at Danny with interest.

"So that form is not so useless after all." Sam stated with an all knowing smile, not at all phased that Danny had just shot fire out of his hands.

Danny's smile grew, "I guess not."

Sam then stalked over to Danny, "I don't mind the use of it, as long as you leave my forest in tacked." Sam stated bluntly, and Danny nodded in understanding. "Good, now what do you two want to do with the soldiers?" Sam asked while looking around.

"I say we eat them!" Casper shouted out, Danny had to suppress a shiver and a gag.

"How about we not," Danny said while shaking his head. He then looked around at all the unconscious men and spotted the one that he had knocked out first. A devious smile then touched his lips. "I have another idea."

* * *

Danny looked at his Water Tribe clothes with excitement. "I did it!" He yelled as he formed an ice crystal in his hand, loving the feeling it gave him to bend something so effortlessly. When he bended fire he did not feel as confident as he did when he bended ice, but then again he had a teacher for his ice bending. His firebending was another story since Sam did not know how to firebend and was not willing to allow Danny to go out looking for one just yet.

However now that he was back to his spirit form he felt totally at ease, and not at all freaked that he might accidentally burn something down. He could also not help but notice the subtle differences in between his two forms.

His spiritual form seemed to feel colder and more light, while his human form seemed warm, warmer than he last remembered it being, and rather heavy. He hoped that he had not gained any unneeded weight when Sam transferred her spiritual energy to him.

Then there was the fact that his human side looked practically the same as he did before he met Sam, well except for the hair and tattoos that is. He could tell that if he walked into town now people would actually recognize him, well once they got over the weird changes that is.

"Good work Phantom." Sam said with a wolfish smile, literally.

"What did you call me?" Danny asked looking at Sam in confusion, not sure if he heard her correctly.

"Phantom, I think it fits your new look don't you?" Sam asked, "After all you gave me a nick name, so now I'm giving you one also."

Danny beamed at the name, "I like it; Danny Phantom." He said, as he stroked a pose, Sam simply laughed at his maturity level.

"Well that's good to hear, because you'll probably need it for him." She said as she looked over to the unconscious firebender they had kept.

"Oh, right." Danny said as he rubbed his head and let out a nervous laugh. For the last hour or so they had Casper keep watch over the soldier, to make sure he did not gain consciousness before Danny could turn back into Phantom, otherwise their plan would be ruined. "Well I guess we should wake him up then?" Danny asked looking over to Sam, hoping to get some sort of support.

Sam gave him a raised eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me, this was your plan?" She stated and Danny's heart sank.

"Alright," Danny sighed as he loved over at the ice-crystal in his hand and allowed it to melt over the firebender's head.

"Wha-What the!" The man yelled as he saw Danny, Sam, and Casper. "Who, or what are you!" He yelled and Danny could not help but scowl.

"My name is Phantom, and you have trespassed onto privet property." Danny stated, allowing his scowl to grow, just to give him a threatening affect.

"Pr-privet property?" The man started, but then he must have noticed either Danny's and/or Sam's unearthly glow because he suddenly shouted. "You are spirits, b-but you were supposed to be myths!"

"Myth?!" Danny asked with a disbelieving eyebrow raised. "Did you not listen to the Fentons findings?" He asked, not sure how anyone could believe that spirits where a myth when there was proof all around him that they were real, even the Avatar was proof of that!

"Th-the Fentons?" The man asked in disbelief, but it was not because he did not know them, but more like he did not know they were right!

"Yes, but that is not why you are here, are you?" Danny asked, "You are here to look for those soldiers who killed the two men of the Fenton family. Well, I hate to say this," _'oh so very much,'_ "but they are not here anymore, but you already knew that, now didn't you?" Danny asked with a knowing smile, remembering the soldier's past conversation with his comrades.

The man seemed to be in a stupor because he then absentmindedly nodded, answering Danny's rhetorical question.

"So why is it _exactly_ that you are here?"

"M-Masters has a thing for Maddie Fenton. He has been trying to win her affection by sending us here, to show her he did what he could for the other Fentons' murder."

A deep scowl appeared on Danny's face, _'So Vlad was doing this to get my mom. Well let's see how much she'll stay with him after she hears this.'_ "Well I want you to go back to this _Masters,_ tell him that he will send no one else into the forest unless he wants my friend here to eat them." Danny said while jabbing a thumb at Casper, who smiled gleefully. The man seemed to have paled by the sight of the platypus bear and nodded. "Alright, now keep this name in mind, 'Phantom.' That is the spirit that will defend this forest with his life," _'if spirits even have lives to lose,'_ "and will not stop doing so unless you all leave it alone. Do you understand?" Danny asked, and the man nodded once again. "Good," Danny said as he let a smile touch his face, "then you may go."

The man then shot out of the forest like an arrow, eager to be free of Danny and his new found friend Casper. "So do I really get to eat the soldiers?" Casper asked his voice eager.

Danny sighed, "Maybe, and no, the other five we fought are not on the menu." Danny said sternly.

"Fine," Casper growled, "but if those do come back I call dibs."

"Well," Sam said, breaking through the conversation before Danny could argue with Casper further, "let's get back to training shall we, I still need to show you how to get to one side of the forest to another, and in only one short second." Sam said as she started to run. Danny let out a cocky smile and raced after her, anticipating all the things he would soon learn.

* * *

"What do you mean you were ambushed; by whom?!" Vlad yelled at the only man that survived the journey into the forest in the 'search' for the 'rogue' soldiers.

"I-I don't know General, all I got out of them was a spirit named 'Phantom!" The solder stuttered, although it was not out of fear for Vlad, but simply because he was having issues remembering the whole thing. During the ambush he thought he saw a kid dressing in Fire Nation Garb with dark raven hair, but the whole event was a blur he could have simple imagined the kid.

Vlad's eyes narrowed and the flames on the candles around the room intensified. "Are your trying so say that you encountered a _Spirit,_ and that it ambushed you _alone_?!" He snarled.

"I don't know sir, when I woke up I found two spirits and a platypus bear standing over me! If I could guess what happened I would say that they were the three that attacked us, or maybe it was them, or a group of people who want to save the forest, or maybe it was just that one spirit sir."

Vlad let one last frustrated growl out before he yelled, "Well, it does not matter now! Just get out!"

The soldier quickly bowed and walked to the door. Right when he walked out a woman with chestnut colored hair and dazzling purple eyes walked past and the solder's face turned into a sneer as soon as she was out of sight. _'Still as self-centered as always, _General_ Masters.'_

* * *

"What was that about Vlad?" Maddie asked as she walked into his office, confused by the loud shouts.

"Oh, Maddie, I did not hear you approach!" Vlad said as a stressed smile spread across his face. "It is wonderful to see you here, but unfortunately I bring bad news." Vlad started, his smile deflating. "The soldiers I sent to look for Daniel's killers were attacked, and unfortunately only one has come back."

"Oh, that is terrible! Do you think the rogue soldiers did it?" Maddie asked scared for the other soldiers Vlad sent into the forest.

"I highly doubt it. The soldier that came back said he remembered seeing a platypus bear. As it may seem, an animal attacked my men, although I am shocked that it was able to take them all out."

Despite the false note in Vlad's voice, Maddie's mind immediately went into spirit explorer mode. _'The spirit of the forest; it is finally fighting back along with the animals!'_ She thought, excitement rose in her chest, however it was quickly extinguished as she remembered something Danny said, _"However _our familyneeds_ plenty, like two parents who need to realize that getting to the spirit world it an impossibility... it is a futile dream that I refuse to be a part of anymore!"_ Maddie's heart started to ache once more at the memories. She looked out of Vlad's window, wishing she could go into the forest it one last time, but then she thought of Jazz, and her needs. _'I'm sure that whatever you decide will be for the best, for both you and Jasmine's future.'_

"Vlad…" Maddie started as he eyes prickled at the sight of the forest in front of her, "I would like to take you up on your offer." She finished as she swallowed back here tears, _'I guess this will be my one last glimpse.'_ Maddie thought as Vlad stepping into her line of sight of the forest with the widest smile in the world. After exclaiming his happiness she soon led her out of his office, ushering her to tell Jazz of the good news.

* * *

**~About a month later~**

Katara looked back at the small town she and the rest of her group had saved from the Fire Nation's terrible influence. However when she looked back, instead of seeing the small pier of a town, she saw a woman floating a few inches above the ground with an elegant dress flowing in the nonexistent breeze. She had red face pain decorating the delicate curves of her face and arms; she also had a large white straw hat with a long white veil coming out of it. However Katara was not shocked by the sight, she had seen a lot stranger things during her times with Aang and this one was not even in the top ten of that list.

The woman in front of her was a familiar sight, one that she remembered seeing in the village in the middle of the lake. Katara smiled at the woman she knew to be the spirit of said lake, the Painted Lady. Katara had impersonated the spirit to help the town and not give away her waterbending abilities to the village, or let her brother, Sokka, know that she was helping, however at the end the plan backfire and everyone found out, even the villagers.

The Painted Lady held a warm smile. "Thank you." She simply said as she took one of Katara's hands. Then, like mist, she disappeared, like she was never there to begin with. The only thing that gave the spirit's existence away was the single note that was left in Katara's hand.

She looked at the small piece of paper in shocked, but quickly opened it curious as to why the spirit left it behind. As soon as she read the last line a pleased look crossed her face. "Guys, you have to see this!" She yelled as she turned around to jog over to her group of friends.

"What is it Katara?" Aang asked, a concerned and questioning look on his face.

"I got a note. It's from the Painted Lady!" Katara exclaimed as she shoved the note into Aang's hand.

"C'mon, not this again." Sokka groaned.

Aang's eyes widened as he read the note, "Are you serious?!" He yelled as he looked up at Katara with a smile on his face.

"What does it say?!" Toph asked, an excited look on her face, clearly getting that the note brought them good news.

"It says 'Go to the forest near the village to the north of here and seek out Schim to receive an ally!'" Aang said reading over the note once again for Toph and Sokka.

"Oh no!" Sokka yelled, "We wasted enough time here, we don't need to go looking for some stranger; that will only waste more time that we cannot afford to lose!"

"Oh, common Sokka, you have to admit, that finding an ally in the Fire Nation could be beneficial. They might know firebending and be able to teach Aang, or know their weaknesses, or maybe know of the Fire Lord's plans!" Katara defended.

Sokka opened his mouth to argue, but Toph quickly cut him off. "I say we go, after all Twinkle Toes here will need all the help he could get in fighting the Fire Lord." She said while jabbing a thumb into Aang's direction who simply blushed and looked down as he messed with his fingers.

"Alright, it's unanimous, we're going!" Katara said as she walked passed Sokka and towards Appa, Aang and Toph quickly followed.

"But… you- ick- AH!" Sokka yelled in aggravation as he followed the group, mumbling and growling the entire way.

* * *

**There you all have it, this is where I start integrating Danny into the Avatar story, and make a few changes of my own ;)**

**So what did you all think about what I did to Danny? Only giving him one bending per form?**

**I actually did it because I didn't want to make him too powerful, although a few of you through out your opinions on me actually making Danny a bending prodigy, but I couldn't do it. I figured the world already had a supper powerful character, it didn't need another added to the mix.**

**So that is my opinion, you are all free to give me yours as long as it is not flat out cursing me out and telling me you will never read my story again, because I had someone who did that and I was not a happy camper.**

**So I'll take any opinions that you all give that will help either me, my stories, or my idea flow. Because as a lot of people have experienced when they said negative things about something I did, I do take them seriously and do my best to advance.**

**So bring on the non-cursing flame!**

**~Ned**


	5. Chapter 4 and a half

**Hey everyone, I'm sure you are all confused because last week I said I was going to update this story every other week. Well I am, this is just a little extra I thought deserved to be added in.**

**Alright, for clarification, this small chapter takes place before the Gaang part of last weeks chapter. So I hope there is no confusion.**

**~Ned**

* * *

Chapter 4.5- Tomorrow

Danny was totally exhausted. He had stayed up all night fighting off a Fire Nation raid, and so far, the job was not getting any easier. So by the time the soldiers were finally kicked out, Danny could not help but pass out near the edge of the forest due to fatigue.

Alright, so maybe sleeping out in the open and being so close to a village while doing so was not the smartest thing to do, but then again, it was not the first time it had occurred. During past week or two that Danny had been a Halfa he almost always passes out before he could ever made it to his new tree house that he and Sam built in the forest. So this time was no different. Or that was what Danny had hoped before he fell asleep against a tree, totally relaxed.

When daylight finally broke through the cracks of the leaves above him he was not all that surprised. However when he opened his eyes Danny almost had a heart attack.

In front of him was a girl that Danny was sure he had never met before now. She had dark skin and long wavy black hair that was a good couple inches below her shoulders. However it was probably her eyes that caught him off guard. They were a magnificent mixture of blue and green that bore into Danny's own icy blue.

"You know that you can catch a cold sleeping in the forest like that." The girl stated in a 'matter of fact' tone as she stood above him.

Danny let out a nervous chuckle, not sure if he should run from the mysterious girl or stay so that he would not rise suspicion. "You would not be the first person to tell me that." _'After all, Sam has said it only a thousand times now.'_

The girl let out a slight giggle, "Well, have they also told you that this place is dangerous? People have been known to either disappear or go insane in here."

Danny rolled his eyes, knowing he should have seen that coming. "I heard about the disappearances, but insanity is defiantly a new one."

"I'm guessing you don't believe in the rumors." The girl asked an amused look on her face.

"I believe some of them, but not all. What about you, you're in here; don't you believe in the rumors?"

"Of course I do, that's why I'm here."

Danny looked at the girl in shock, "Really, are you studying spirits or something?"

"Something like that." She said as she offered Danny a hand. "My name is Valerie by the way."

Danny took the hand and pushed himself up with Valerie's help, "Danny."

"Well Danny, why are you sleeping in the forest?" Valerie asked with a curious smile on her face.

"Um…" Danny then rubbed the back of his head. It had defiantly been a while since someone asked him about his activities in the forest. "Would you believe me if I said I live here?"

Valerie's amusement disappeared, "Really, how have you survived?"

"Oh, I've had help." Danny said with a shy smile, thinking that somehow he blew his secret.

"Wow that is pretty incredible, especially given the nature of the spirit that lives here."

Danny let out a sigh, "Actually, I haven't had any issues with the spirit. I figured that if I leave the forest intact, I get to live here."

Now Valerie looked totally shocked, "Really, how did you figure that out?"

"Well I guess the first hint was that I have been living here for a little over a week now and have yet to be attacked by any animal or spirit."

'_Danny!'_ Sam yelled in his head.

"Wow, you must know your way around this place pretty well then." Valerie said after Sam's outburst.

"Um…" Danny started as he rubbed the back on his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry but I got to go." he added as he started to back away. "I'm sure my friend is starting to get worried by my absence."

"Oh... alright… but you will be back, right?" Valerie asked; her eyes looking somewhat desperate.

Danny's heart made a weird leap at the sight. "Sure, how about we meet back here tomorrow, around this time?"

Valerie's face immediately lit up, "It's a date!"

"A-Alright," Danny stuttered, as her words made his head seem foggy, "I'll see you then." He then turned around and ended up hitting a tree face first. "I-I meant to do that." Danny said as he stood up and started to back away from both Valerie and the tree slowly.

Valerie let out a set of giggles that only made Danny's head even more confused, "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, don't be late." She then waved her goodbyes and headed towards the direction of the village.

* * *

**I hope you all liked my little short. I didn't originally plan on putting Valerie into the story, but once I thought about it I just could not leave her out. Oh, and thanks to some of my awesome reviewers I can officially say that I am in fact putting Tuck in the story :D**

**So thanks you everyone and keep up that awesome reviews!**

**~Ned**


	6. Chapter 5

**I am sooooo sorry everyone for the late update. I totally forgot about updating on Thursday and my friend came over again this weekend. Sorry again :/**

**But the good news is that the Gaang is finally making their big appearance :D So read and enjoy!**

**~Ned**

* * *

Chapter 5- The Explosive Meeting

Danny had been having the time of his life in the past month! He had learned so much from Sam over the brief amount of time they had been together. He could even navigate and maneuver his way through the forest without her help anymore.

During the first couple of days Sam taught him the basics, icebending, moving from one area of the forest to another by running into a tree (yeah, Danny was scared by the thought at first also), and then there was her help with Danny's form switching. Of course Sam did not know how Danny was about to go from human to spirit, but she was a great motivator and helped him master it so that he could do it on a seconds notice.

During their time together Danny could not help but wonder what being half spirit, a Halfa, entailed or how exactly he became one. After all Sam hated to bring the topic up so he still had no clear answers. However after the first week of wondering and asking an uncooperative Sam for answers, he pushed the topic into the back of his mind and classified it as unimportant.

So he decided to focus on different and more important things, one of them being his bending. Over the time he had been with Sam he had practically mastered icebending and was now trying to get a handle of waterbending without a knowledgeable teacher. Then there was his firebending.

He noticed on the first day that he could only bend one element in each of his forms, his spirit only did water/ice, while his human only had fire, so no matter how much Danny tried he could never seem to do them at the same time. There was also the issue that Sam did not know how to firebend, so he did not have a teacher for that either. But thankfully he had Sam to put out any fires that he accidentally caused, although she was never pleased to do so. Thus Danny was forced to cut his firebending practice to a minimum. The only firebending he knew how to do was shoot fire out of his fists, nothing else; no fire break dancing, no dragon breath, he could not even figure out how to shoot fire out with a kick!

The techniques for waterbending and firebending were also very different as far as Danny could tell. No matter what move he tried to do that he learned to do as a waterbender he could never do it as a firebender. It was all frustrating to say the least.

'_How on earth does the Avatar learn to do it?'_ Danny asked out loud to no one in particular as he flew into a tree and transported to the edge of the forest next to his old village. _'All the moves and techniques he must have learned to do. Each element must have taken him decades to master!'_

'_Don't worry about it so much, Phantom.'_ Sam spoke into his head. They had learned a while ago that they shared a link of sorts. It was not anything special like reading each other's minds. They simply project their thoughts to one another. _'I'm sure that you'll find a way to master firebending eventually.'_

'_Yeah, if a firebender came out of nowhere and _wasn't_ in support of the Fire Lord then maybe, but the chances of that are zero to none especially since we are right smack-dab in the middle of the Fire Nation.'_ Danny said in aggravation.

'_You worry too much.'_ Sam said with a hint of humor in her voice.

Danny let out a sigh at her words. After the talk he had with that Fire Nation soldier the first day he had been Phantom, he thought that maybe his mother and sister would stay in the village. After all, he had given his mother the hint that there was a spirit in the forest and had desperately hoped that if his mother heard about it she would want to stay to investigate. However it would seem she chose the wrong time to get over her obsession and instead decided to go with Vlad all the way to the Fire Nation Capital.

Danny would have tried to stop her, but with his current situation it would be difficult to say the least. It was not because he was bound to the forest like Sam was, because he was not, he was able to come and go as he pleased. The things that made it difficult was of course the fact that everyone thought he was dead, so coming out of nowhere with a different look would be a horrible idea. Then there was the fact that he was now half spirit, and the last time he checked, his mother wanted to _experiment_ on them, so telling her that he was alive because he was now half spirit would be like committing suicide.

'_I think I worry the right amount.'_ Danny corrected Sam, as he stared at his long lost home, wanting nothing more than to have his old life back, even with the spirit obsessed parents. Well, at least that was how he felt for the first five seconds until a loud _'Boom!'_ exploded inside the town and Danny jumped in shock. '_Great, what did the soldiers do now?'_ Danny thought with a roll of his eyes as he leaped off his tree and started to fly towards the commotion.

* * *

"So where is this forest the Painted Lady mentioned?" Aang asked his group as he looked around the large village that the spirit had mentioned.

"I don't know, why don't we ask around?" Katara stated as she walked over to a fruit stand, hoping to ask the clerk for directions.

"Wait Katara; we shouldn't just go around asking strangers for directions." Sokka said as he grabbed his little sister's wrist.

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother. "Will you calm down Sokka, it's not like I'm asking for the weakest points in the Fire Nation Capitol. I'm just going to get us info on the forest." Sokka gave his sister a glare before she pulled her wrist out of his grip. "But if it'll make you happy I'll be careful." She said as she started towards the fruit stand. "I would like two Papayas please." Katara said sweetly, trying to be discreet.

Of course she hated the disgusting flavored fruit, but it was the first thing she saw when she got to the stand, so she would just have to get over it. The clerk looked up at her briefly before he nodded and started to gather the food and put it in a basket.

"This really is a magnificent village," Katara continued, being totally truthful. The village was actually very nice and full of life, but the clerk remained passive at the change of topic, "it seems so green and rich. Is there a forest nearby influencing it?" she pushed a little harder trying to keep her voice civil and trying to not give away her intentions.

The clerks face then turned terrified, erasing any evidence of his past neutrality. "You don't want to go there." He said his voice trembling. "There have been a lot of disappearances in there, one man even mentioned seeing rabid animals and demented spirits!"

Katara looked at the man in shock, not sure if she should walk away slowly from the obviously crazy man or feel sorry for him for falling victim to the strange rumors. "Wh-what do you mean?" She asked, although a small part of her told her to shut her mouth and walk away.

"Every person that has ever gone into that forest has never come out!" The man practically yelled. "General Masters had even left more than half his men here to deal with the issue and ditched the place himself to go to the Capital!"

It was then that the rest of her group came forward, all interested, yet hesitant. "Did you say demented spirits?" Aang asked, clearly interested. Katara smiled slightly, remembering the last time they dealt with a 'demented spirit.' It ended up just being the forest's spirit that had his forest burned down. The spirit had simply been angry and stole the villagers to get revenge. Katara began to wander what could make a spirit so angry when even the village was flourishing from the forest's health.

"No one knows about the spirit for sure, only one person saw it and came back, however he moved to the village west of here to live with his family a few days after the incident. However he did say that he saw a boy with snow white hair and glowing green eyes and a strange black and white animal shaped spirit that travel with a platypus bear." The Clerk exclaimed.

The four kids exchanged uneasy looks, except for Toph, who simple asked, "Can you tell us where this forest is so that we can avoid it?" Katara's heart seemed to have stopped at the young girls words, hoping that the man would not look deeper into Toph's meaning.

"It's to the north of here." The clerk exclaimed while pointing towards said north. "I strongly suggest you go to the village to the west of here if you are ever desperate to go north. Just ask the people in the village where to go and they should take you as far as you need to go to avoid the forest." The clerk stated and Katara stared at him in shock, not expecting him to be this helpful, even if the last half was not needed thanks to Appa.

"Thank you," Katara finally said before anyone in the group could say anymore, "you have been very helpful, and don't worry, we'll be safe." She then grabbed Toph and Sokka and lead them to the south so they would not raise any suspicion.

"Good, now that we know _not_ to go into the forest, we should leave." Sokka exclaimed, irritation clear on his face.

"Are you kidding, this spirit could help us find Schim with our new group member, we can't leave now!" Aang exclaimed, "Besides, I'm the Avatar, I could probably reason with the 'demonic' spirit in the forest."

"I agree with Aang, we came this far, we can't leave now!" Katara stated stubbornly and Toph nodded in agreement.

"Good, now let's go, before it gets dark." Aang stated as he started to walk to the north, everyone followed at equal pace except for Sokka who just trudged behind, grumbling to himself once again.

It was then that everything went wrong. Sokka, who had dragged his feet in frustration, scrapped his foot against two spark rocks that had been accidentally dropped next to the fireworks that were for a celebration that was going to be held sometime in the week. However Sokka, being full of bad luck, sparked the rocks that lit one of the fireworks in a fairly large crate. Right when that happened, Sokka's luck got worse; two Fire Nation soldiers turned the corner to witness the event.

It was only thanks to the soldiers that anyone knew what happened. "Everyone, GET DOWN!" One of the soldiers yelled, and everyone in the area complied without question, even the Gaang listened and hit the deck.

'_Boom!'_

* * *

Danny flew only a few feet about the roof tops of the village, invisible to the naked eye. Danny loved this part about being half spirit, flight and invisibility. Yep, things could not get better.

As he flew he saw what had caused the commotion. A large box of what Danny thought used to be caring either fireworks, or low level explosives had exploded. He looked at it with interest and then saw a flash as two groups of people running away from the scene of the crime. Danny looked at the groups with interest, not sure about what to make of one of them.

The first group he brushed off since they were just Fire Nation soldiers. The other group was the one that caught his eyes, due to the fact that the soldiers were chasing after them. It had been a while since anyone had angered the soldiers that much, so out of natural curiosity Danny could not help but want to investigate even further. So he followed the small group of four that where being chased, staying invisible of course.

The group had two boys and two girls, all of them were no older than seventeen and all had dark hair. The youngest boy, who he guessed was either twelve or thirteen, had a headband over his forehead and wore a school looking uniform that looked a little expensive compared to what Danny used to wear.

The youngest girl looked about the same age as the youngest boy; she wore soulless shoes and had piercing light grey eyes that told the world that she was blind. The oldest boy looked about sixteen, had light sea blue eyes that were just a little darker than Danny's own. He also had a terrified and guilty look on his face, and guessing by it Danny assumed the boy was the one that caused the explosion. He could not help but smile at the thought, loving anything that would anger the Fire Nation's soldiers as much as he did on a daily bases.

The oldest girl looked about Danny's age, fourteen, maybe fifteen, and looked a lot like the oldest guy, dark hair, light sea blue eyes, and tanned skin tone. Their faces had slight differences, but they also had similarities. Danny guessed by the group's situation that they were not part of the Fire Nation army, and hope flourished in his chest at the idea of one of them being a firebender.

'_Sam, we have company, be nice.'_ Danny thought as he flew next to the oldest girl, and quickly whispered, "Turn left," trying to direct them into the direction of the forest. He hoped that his motion had not freaked her out as he said it. After all, mysterious voices out of nowhere usually called for alarm. However the girl briefly nodded, immediately accepting the advice that came out of nowhere and pulled on the blind girl's shirt.

"This way!" She yelled as he turned left, the rest of the group followed without complaint.

'_Apparently drastic times call for drastic measures.'_ Danny thought out loud.

He immediately heard Sam laugh in his head. _'You are living proof of that Phantom.'_ Sam said with amusement.

Danny felt his cheeks warm up at the comment and was glad that at the moment he was invisible. "Keep going straight." He quickly whispered in the girl's ear again after seeing a panicked look on her face as she looked at every corner like she had lost her new found guide and did not know where to go next. "Alright, take another left then just keep going, the forest is dead ahead." Danny said as he led them through the last turn. He then turned around to face the soldiers, thrilled to see that all of them had immediately stopped once the group of four finally passed through the forest. _'They learn fast.'_ Danny thought and Sam laughed again as he sent her an image of the startled soldiers.

"Wh-what are you waiting for, go get them!" One man stated as he shoved one of the soldiers forward. Danny smiled, waiting for one of them to pass through the threshold.

"Are you crazy? I've heard the rumors circulating about the forest!" The man that had been shoved stated. "Anyone who enters never returns!"

Danny could not help but roll his eyes at the village's ridicules rumor circulation. The only people that ever went missing where from the Fire Nation army, Danny and Sam were very strict towards the animals about randomly attacking villagers (who had recently stopped coming into the forest completely), but soldiers were fair game. Danny could not help shivering at the thought, but refused to let it affect him, _'Wild animals have to eat too.'_ Sam had said and Danny regretted having to agree with her after the first five attacks upon their forest since each group he kicked out came back eventually.

"Those are just rumors, now go in and get those brats!" Another soldier stated and Danny rolled his eyes at the soldiers in front of him, irritated that such grown men could be such sacredly cats.

"Let's just go in together." One said out loud, breaking the conflict between two of his fellow soldiers. However Danny's smile returned at the slight shake of the man's voice.

"Alright," the one that shoved the other stated, "together."

After they all let out a relaxing breath they took a step into the forest and Danny's smile grew ten-fold. He stretched out his hand and froze the ground underneath the soldier, who all immediately fell onto their butts.

"Wh-What the heck was that?!" One yelled as he tried to get up, but only ended up slipping again.

"It's the spirit!" Another yelled, and a majority of the soldiers immediately stiffened. Apparently none of them were too thrilled about the talk of spirits, which only make Danny's smile turn devious.

He then sucked in a deep breath and let out a loud, "GET OUT!" that sounded like both a growl and an ominous groan. Then all six of the men's face paled and without a second's hesitation they booked it, not caring who they trampled in the process.

Danny held his stomach to suppress the burst of laughter that would have escaped. _'Phantom, your company has arrived, you better get here, and if possible, as a human.'_ Sam said and Danny had to take a few deep breaths before he could stop the bursts of laughter.

'_Alright Sam, be there in a flash.'_ Danny said as he flew into a tree and then found himself in the middle of the forest. With a smile he allowed the two rings to form around him, transforming him back into his human form with his usual Fire Nation citizen clothes. He then walked towards the four unknown persons inside his forest, knowing this was going to be interesting.

* * *

"We…we actually made it!" Aang said as he leaned over and panted, exhausted form their run. "How did you know where to go Katara?"

"I-I don't know, I just heard a voice that lead us hear." Katara answered not entirely sure if the voice had been in her head or if someone or something had whispered all of it into her ear.

"Like the way that swamp had called Aang, cause that didn't end so well." Sokka exclaimed with a nervous look on his face.

"Well if it wasn't for the swamp we probably wouldn't have met Toph, so I would say it was pretty good advice." Aang stated in a 'matter of fact' tone.

"All I'm saying is that we got attacked by a lot of swamp water and plants, I simply don't want to relive the experience." Sokka said with a shrug.

It was then that a bush rustled and Sokka turned around about ready to pull out his trusty boomerang. However what stepped out was just a small fire ferret that looked mildly interested in the group as it trotted over to them.

"Watch out Sokka," Katara started as she and Aang began to chuckle, "Ferrets have been known to be ferocious and deadly."

"Hey, it could have been anything!" Sokka defended himself, but he then glared back at the ferret, contemplating whether or not to attack it to release the stress his friend's laughter was causing him. However as he stared, the ferret started to let out a series of squeaks, like it was trying to talk to them. Before anyone could even begin to think about how to respond it started to walk towards the center of the forest. It stopped when it got a few yards ahead then looked back, as if saying. _'You guys coming?'_

"It is just me, or does it look like he wants something?" Katara asked; her voice sounding a little freaked out.

"Yeah…it looks like it wants us to follow it." Aang agreed, but then let out a shrug and started to walk towards the red ferret.

"What are you doing?" Sokka asked about ready to grab onto Aang like he did his sister when she decided to just walk over to something unknown.

"Following it, it may be able to take us to Schim." Aang answered simple, and the ferret nodded, causing everyone but Toph to stare at it in horror.

"Smart ferret." Aang said with an approving nod as he started to follow the animal again, and everyone followed, confused and worried.

When the ferret finally stopped they were deep into the middle of the forest, "Alright we followed you so where is this 'Schim?'" Sokka asked in irritation, wanting nothing more than to get out of this forest before they fall too far off track and loose the small amount on time they have to get to the Fire Nations Capitol before the solar eclipse.

"Someone is coming." Toph yelled and everyone froze

"Good senses." A boy said as he stepped out from behind a tree, Sokka was immediately on guard as he saw the boy's Fire Nation clothes. "Welcome to Schim's forest, my name is Danny."

* * *

When Danny found the group of four that he had helped he could not help but address himself and Sam to the group. Sam had told him _so _many times to do that before he did anything else, she mentioned something about using proper manners towards guests. He was also forced to say Sam's real name, so that he would not confuse the group, like he had done on so many occasions.

When Danny finished addressing himself he could not help but examine the group and felt relieved that the kids in front of him did not have a single scratch on them, knowing that half the forest wanted nothing more than to attack them simply by the clothes that they wore.

"Schim?" The oldest girl asked.

Danny smiled at the girl, pleased that she asked nicely and without suspicion. "She is the lady and protector of this forest. She had sent me to welcome you as guests."

"Then who are you?" The youngest girl, that Danny had earlier assumed was blind, asked, her voice sounded slightly worries and Danny could not help but frown in confusion.

"I am Danny, my job is to assist and protect when I am needed. If it is not too much to ask, may I inquire your names?" Danny mentally laughed at the large words he said, remembering all the harsh lessons Sam insisted upon him so that he would not offend any of their welcomed guests, whether they were spirit or human.

The four exchanged uneasy looks, and Danny watched in curiosity as they huddled together and began to whisper to one another. He was half tempted to eavesdrop, but before he could his heart seemed to stop when he felt a weird pulse go through him as he sensed the four's energy through the forest.

That was another up side of being connected to Sam; he could sense every living being in the forest, even the plants. He had not noticed until now since he felt no need to probe his guest since they were obviously human. But one of the kid's energy snuck up on him and practically made the hair on the back if Danny's neck stand on end, and it was coming from the younger boy wearing the headband.

'_The Avatar,'_ Sam explained in his head, _'be nice to him and I'll be there as soon as I can.'_

Danny looked at the boy uncertainly, not sure how the Avatar, the person destined to restore order to the world, could be younger than him!

"We would like to meet Schim before we distribute our names." The oldest girl exclaimed simply as they broke out of their whispering circle. Danny could not help but respect her diplomacy, but that did not pull his thoughts away from the Avatar. So Danny simply nodded at her response, still trying to see an ounce of maturity that would imply that the boy was actually meant to overthrow the Fire Lord.

"What's your deal?" The oldest boy asked, stepping in front of the Avatar and cutting off Danny's line of sight.

Danny looked up at the boy in front of him, not sure if he should respond or simply stay quiet until Sam got there. However the glare he received from him did not let up and Danny did not feel Sam close enough to interfere, since she could not use her teleportation technique in her weakened state so far away. So he had no choice but to answer the boy's question. "You are traveling with the Avatar." Danny stated bluntly, since he never was one to shy away from a subject, especially when someone was staring at him so intensely.

Everyone stared at Danny in shock and horror. "How…" The Avatar started.

"Schim," Was all Danny could bring himself to say at first since he did not want to say, _'I felt your different energy,'_ yeah, that would probably freak them out, "this is her forest. If she did not know who was entering I'm sure she would not have let you enter the center of her forest, despite my request to let you in." That was mostly true; Sam barely let any villager this deep into the forest without a reason.

"Your request?" The oldest girl asked, her face still covered in shock, but the horror subsided some.

"Yeah, I saw you four running away from those Fire Nation soldiers, and anyone able to piss them off that bad are okay in my book." Danny then looked over at the oldest boy and a wide smile crossed his lips. "I'm guessing it was you that caused that huge explosion?"

The boy's face then turned into the shade of a tomato, "Did this Schim tell you that too?" the boy asked.

Danny could not help but laugh, _'He would think that.' _"No, your guilty look did." The boy's face only turned a deeper shade of red.

"Danny, please stop tormenting our guests." Sam said as finally teleported out of a tree in her glowing wolf form.

Danny's face instantly beamed at her. "In my defense he made it _way_ to easy."

"Y-you're a spirit!" The oldest girl exclaimed in awe.

Sam nodded, "Yes, I am Schim, the spirit of this forest." She then looked over to the Avatar with a pleasant smile on her face. "May I ask why I have earned the honor of having the Avatar in my forest?"

"We came here on the Painted Lady's request." The oldest girl answered. "She said we would find an ally here."

Danny flinched as the fur on Sam's neck stood up. "Did she now?" Sam growled. "And if I am in no position to give you one?"

"But we need more allies to go up against the Fire Lord!" The Avatar spoke up, not seeming to notice Sam's aggravation.

Sam looked like she was about to either growl or bit his head off. "That does not mean I am willing to risk my forest!"

The four kids looked at Sam in shock, not expecting such an answer. "Sam," Danny said giving her a worried look, "what are you talking about?"

Another growl erupted from Sam's throat, although Danny could tell it was not meant for anyone in the forest at the moment. "She did me one favor, _one,_ and now she expects me to just give y-… in so easily!" Sam said, hesitant towards the last part.

Danny let out a sigh, recognizing the situation was almost the same as when she brought up Koh. "What did she do for you?" Danny asked as he crouched down next to her, so that they were now face to face.

"Before you came she lent me some of her spiritual power so that I could keep my forest in tacked. I will be forever grateful for that, but I can't give you an ally." Sam said as she looked up at the Avatar's group. "I…" She then looked over at Danny.

Danny felt his heart stop at her words finally plugged into place. _'She wants me to go?'_ Danny asked, not sure if saying it out loud to a bunch of kids he barely knew right now would help or harm them at this point.

'_Rumors spread faster than I anticipated,' _Sam stated to Danny as she looked down, as if ashamed. "I…I guess I don't have much of a choice." Sam said and Danny felt something stab at his chest.

"But Sam…" He started, unsure as to how to continue.

"So you'll give us an ally?" The Avatar asked a smile on his face, despite the inner turmoil that was going through both Danny and Sam.

"Yes…" She then looked back at the group, "but you will all have to promise me something." A bright light then engulfed Sam as the last word left her lips, when the light dimmed it revealed the fourteen year old Sam that Danny had grown so accustomed to seeing. "When you take Danny," Sam said as she stalked over to the Avatar and shoved a finger into his chest, "you will return him here safely once you defeat the Fire Lord, no exceptions!"

Everyone nodded in understanding, except for one person. "Wait, you want us to take him?" The oldest boy asked pointing at Danny; his face looked both shocked, and totally disappointed.

"Yes." Sam growled as she gave the boy a deep scowl, and he backed up in either fear or shock. "Danny is very skilled, and once you gain his trust he might tell you why." She stated with a ghost of a smile aimed at Danny, who returned with one of his own.

'_You're talking about Phantom, aren't you?'_ Danny asked and Sam's smile grew as she gave him a small nod.

'_Tell them when you are ready,'_ was all she said back.

"What about the demented spirit that has been rumored to fly around here?" The oldest boy asked, now out of his shocked/fearful state. Danny gave him a sharp stare and could not help but think that the boy had some sort of death wish.

"What about him?" Danny and Sam asked in unison, each sounding like a low growl.

"Where is he, everyone in the village is freaking out about him!" He exclaimed.

Danny rolled his eyes, wanting nothing more than to discover whoever invented rumors and punch their nose in. "You know I never got all of your names." Danny said in a desperate attempt to change the topic.

"Oh, right!" The Avatar said his smile still on his face, taking the bait _way_ to easily. "My name is Aang, this is Katara," He pointed to the oldest girl with light sea blue eyes, "Toph," the apparently blind youngest girl, "and this is Sokka." He said pointing at the oldest boy with light blue eyes.

Danny smiled and held out his hand for the Avatar named Aang. "Danny Fenton; at your service!"

* * *

**Well there you have it, Danny is joining Team Avatar! However how will this effect the forest? Well we'll find out**** on Thursday, so no worries :)**

**Alright, I haven't done this in a while, but it's quiz time! :3 I'm going to ask a simple question, whoever gets it right will earn a sneak peek into the next chapter, so think hard! So *cough* Who is Koh? Simple right ;)**

**Good, so remember to review to give me your answer for the quiz and to tell me if I messed anything up in this chapter, because I wouldn't be surprised if I did****. **

**~Ned**


	7. Chapter 6

**WOHO! I updated! Finally right ;) well hopefully I'll be updating every other week like last time, especially since I already have a majority of the next chapter written :3 So hopefully no long waits this time.**

**Now, normally I would be explaining my sudden absence, but I already did that in my latest chapter of The Runaway In Jump, so if you really want to hear it (which I doubt you all do) go to chapter 22 Author's Notes, it's all there.**

**Now time for a short summery since it's just been that long since I updated: Danny's parents have spent a majority of their lives investigating the Spirit World until General Vlad orders his men to kill Jack Fenton in order to obtain his lost love Maddie. He succeeded, but Danny was caught in the crossfire and was left in the woods where Schim (AKA Sam), the spirit of the forest, found him and unintentionally turned him into a Halfa, half human, half spirit.**

**He had spent only a week in the Forest (after his mother and sister fell into Vlad's trap and moved to the Capital with him) when he meets Valerie, then after a month or so he meets the Gaang... and now we start the story after Danny realizes he is to leave with them to stop the Fire Nation.**

* * *

Chapter 6- Worries

"Whoa, you live here?!" Katara asked as she stared at the large bundle of trees in the middle of a small clearing. The trees were just another example that being a half spirit made Danny different. Just like Sam, he could shape the plants in the forest like she did when they met, and the tree house in front of them was an example of that. Danny and Sam formed the house together by shaping the bundle of trees to their liking. It turned out beautifully in their opinions, and apparently their guests thought so as well.

"Yeah, Sam made it when I came about a month ago." Danny explained, trying his hardest to skip over 'minor' details.

"What do you mean she made it?" Katara asked looking back at Danny in shock.

"She has the ability to mold the forest as she pleases; after all, it is hers." He clarified, "The first time I saw her do it she morph a part of a tree to make shovels, it was pretty mystifying to say the least."

"What did you need shovels for?" Toph asked. Her voice still had a line of uncertainly that put Danny on edge, although he could not explain why.

However his heart sank as he thought about what happened only a month ago. Danny looked across the small field that was in front of his home and found his father's grave. "To dig." Was all he could make himself say at that moment, he did not want to talk about his father to four people he just met. "But we don't need to worry about that, let's go check out your hotel rooms shall we?" Danny said in an attempt to lighten the mood, it did not work.

Obviously curious as to what Danny was staring at, Sokka started to walk towards the area where his father was buried. Danny's heart immediately lodged itself into his throat as he realized what the boy was doing.

"H-hey!" He choked out as he rushed after Sokka, the other three following closely behind.

"Sokka…" Toph started; she had not even taken two steps towards the grave before she stopped dead in her tracks. She held a dreadful look on her face, that made Danny think that maybe she seen a ghost, but knew it was _very _unlikely.

Everyone stopped as well, even Sokka, all looking at the somewhat horrified looking girl. "What is it Toph?" Sokka inquired irritably, and Danny's eye twitched at the boy's impatient tone. It was like he was hell bent on taking a look at his deceased father, or was it just that he wanted Danny to sick Casper on him.

"Maybe we should go take that tour." Toph pushed, and Danny looked at the girl a little shocked, not sure why she would want to go away from the grave when everyone else seemed to want to go towards it.

Sokka looked shocked too, but then a questioning look crossed his face. "What did you feel?" He asked and Danny looked back and forth between the two, not sure what exactly was going on.

"That what it over there is none of our concern." Toph answered smoothly, and Danny felt his heart jump once again.

"How… How did you…?" He started, but he was not sure how exactly to word what he wanted to say.

Toph's look turned sympathetic, but she was not the one that answered. "Toph can see using her earthbending." Katara answered, as she apparently connected some of the dots. "She can even see some things that are underground if enough vibrations pass through it."

"I saw who you buried," Toph said looking down, "I'm sorry."

Understanding replaced the shock Danny had felt, and a defeated sigh forced its way through his lips. "It's alright, come here." He said, deciding that since one of them knew about his father, it would probably be best to show the rest as well. After all, rumors always got worse with every person that it was told to. When they reached the grave Danny let a small smile play on his lips. "Well, everyone, this is my father, Jack Fenton!"

Everyone stared at the grave in shock, well except Toph of course. "'A Great Father, Husband, and Legend in the Making.'" Katara spoke out loud what was written in the ice block that Sam had made for him, with the promise that it would never melt. Katara then looked over to Danny, "What happened to him?"

If Danny was to be totally honest, he was not all that thrilled about thinking back to the day his father died, including why it happened in the first place. However he knew that if he was going to be traveling with the group he might as well share his story, to release some of the tension they might have towards him being a part of the Fire Nation.

"My father was a great man," Danny started, "he was such a stubborn believer in his theories, all of which seem outlandish to the Fire nation. But my father never really did learn how to back down from what he believed in, and a lot of people would say that was what killed him, but that's not the whole truth. What really killed him was a man's jealousy." Danny then looked up at the sky, like the tale he was telling was etched into the clouds. "A General by the name of Vlad Masters had fallen in love with my mother, Maddie Fenton, way before I was born. He is a very powerful man with a lot of influence, it was because of that power that a group of soldiers got together under one order; kill Jack Fenton. It was only a month ago that they burned down my house and I was forced to live here with Sam."

When he was done everyone looked at him with sympathy, even Sokka. "I'm sorry," Katara said as he put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "my mother was killed by the Fire Nation too."

A small smile formed on Danny's lips, "Thanks, but this really isn't the time for this. Nigh fall is coming soon and I really should get you guys into your rooms before Sam bites my head off about poor manners towards guests."

When they got to the front doors of the tree house Danny felt a rough pull on the back of his shirt that almost made him fall backwards. "Can we talk?" Toph asked with an iron grip on Danny's shirt. The worry and uncertainty that was in her voice had returned tenfold.

Danny looked back at the house, unsure, but decided that maybe it was for the best if it meant finding out why Toph seemed to act so strange around him. "Sure." He said, and then he was pulled once again, but this time it was a little less forceful. When she stopped pulling they were a good distance away from the house and Danny could not help but feel somewhat vulnerable, not that he would say that out loud. "So what did you want to talk about?" Danny asked, shaking off his uncertainty and focusing on the topic at hand.

"Your heart," Toph started, but Danny only became confused, wondering where this was going, "what is wrong with it?" She finished, and Danny's confusion did not go down in the slightest.

"What…what do you mean; what's wrong with it?" Danny asked, now truly concerned as he felt his chest, worried that something had gone horribly wrong.

Toph's eyebrow rose in both confusion, and disbelief. "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?!" Danny asked, slowly becoming hysteric.

"Your heart rate is low, lower than I have ever felt on anyone before… are you alright?" Toph asked with a hint of worry in her voice and all traces of uncertainty now gone.

It then clicked in his head, _'Crap, this is one of the side effects of being a Halfa!'_ Danny then face palmed, feeling stupid for not checking this earlier. "I'm fine." Danny said; his voice now sounding irritated.

Toph's eyebrow rose a little bit more, "Wow, you're taking this well."

Danny let out a sigh, "Well, once you live with a spirit," _'or become half of one,'_ "there is nothing that will surprise you."

"So you're not worried about it?"

"Nope, ever since I met Sam a lot has happened, a low heart rate is literally the least of my problems."

Toph looked at Danny, skeptical, but seemed to push her worried behind her. "Alright, so where will I be staying?" She asked as she grabbed Danny's shirt and started to drag him back towards the house.

* * *

Jazz was practically beaming as she ran home, her chest full of pride. "Mother!" She yelled throughout the large house that could easily be called a small palace.

"I'm up stairs honey." Maddie called, Jazz simple smiled as she almost tripped up the stairs to share her good news with her mother.

"Mom, you will not believe this!" The girl exclaimed as she put down the small piece of paper she was holding onto her mother's desk, wanting her to read what was on the paper for herself.

Maddie looked over the piece of paper and a shocked look soon crossed her face, but then sorrow quickly replaced it, "Are you sure about this sweetie?" She asked as she looked up at her daughter, her eyes downcast.

"Of course mom, this could be my chance to help, to make a difference!" Jazz said excitedly, wanting her mother to see her point of view. "I might even be able to capture the men who killed Danny and dad!"

"Jazz… are you sure that joining the Fire Nation army is the best way?" Maddie questioned as worry etched itself onto her face. "Do you know how much danger these people face?"

"But mom, Vlad said that I am a natural firebender and would be perfect for the war efforts, plus, there is next to nothing in our way. The Avatar died only a few weeks ago and the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se, has fallen, so there is only the rebel earthbenders to stand up against us!"

Maddie flinched at her daughter's words, and feeling guilt weigh down her heart. _'I knew Vlad would be a horrible influence on her.'_ She thought, but it was not like she had much of a choice on where to go after what happened to their house. "Jazz, think about what you are saying, the Avatar is needed, especially now."

Jazz's excitement deflated and disappointment took its place. "Mother, I got accepted into the army, I thought you would be excited that I decided to make a difference."

Maddie's heart ached by her daughter's look. She knew that allowing her daughter to join the Fire Nation army would be the worst thing she could do as a parent, but the pain on her daughter's face was too much for her. She had disappointed Danny the night he died, she did not know if she could do the same to Jazz, not now after only a month to cope with half of her family's death. "Alright Jazz… but don't go yet, wait a few more weeks… please…"

* * *

The next morning Danny was _way_ too exhausted to do much of anything. He had spent a majority of the night kicking out yet another Fire Nation raid that threatened to burn down the forest. Then after that he tried to go to sleep, but ended up staying up all night worrying about a multitude of stuff. One being what Sam would do about the raids without him; another was trying to figure out how to tell Valerie he was leaving. So when the sun finally came over the horizon he realized that sleep was officially lost on him.

"Wow, you look awful," Valerie said as she looked him over once he got to their meeting place. Ever since their first meeting a few weeks back they had met practically every morning.

"Tell me about it." Danny said as he let out a yawn.

Val let out a soft chuckle, "Why don't you tell me?"

Danny shook his head, "I didn't get any sleep last night."

"Why?" She asked a confused look on her face.

Danny looked up at her and immediately felt guilty, "Because I'm leaving." He said in a low whisper, not sure if his voice would go up any higher.

"Leaving… where are you going?" Val asked, her voice pained, but her face masked with worry.

"I don't know, but a couple friends of mine are going to be traveling around the Fire Nation and are insisting that I come with."

Val looked down, her eyes now covered in shadows, "So… this will be our last meeting?" She whispered.

Danny's heart sank, and the guilt inside of it tripled, "I don't know…"

Val looked up again and the guilt became overwhelming. During the past couple weeks that they have known each other Valerie has probably become one of Danny's few friends.

Although Danny knew next to nothing about Valerie she was the only person he could talk to, and by person, that means human, 100% non-furry, non-glowing, and firebending-less human. However one of the things that he did know about her was that he was her only friend also. Around the same time Danny's regular life ended was the same time Val's life went right downhill.

Valerie came from a wealthy family of firebenders, though she is not one herself thanks to her mother's side of the family. She was forced to move from the Fire Nation capitol to the village west of the forest when her father lost his rank in the Fire Nation army. However she never told Danny how he lost it, or what general fired him, he only knew how it affected Valerie afterwards.

Once her father lost his job, he lost all his credibility and became an outcast and Valerie herself was not too far behind. When word got around about her father she lost all of her friends when they turned on her. She even lost her boyfriend Kwan, and her best friend Paulina.

Danny then looked up at Valerie, thinking of all the things he could say to make the hurt look on her face go away. "I'll be back." He started, "I don't know when, but I promise we'll meet again." He then forced a smile and Valerie did the same.

"Alright… just make it soon, alright?"

"Alright." Danny said and before he could turn to leave he was instantly tackled by a hug. He stared at the girl that was clinging to him, that he was now sure was Valerie, but he that did not help him come up with a response to the sudden contact. So after a few seconds he did the only thing that seemed reasonable, he wrapped his arms around her and comforted her.

* * *

Danny let out a sigh as he walked back to his tree house, he honestly did not know what to think about everything. He had so many reasons to stay in the forest, there was Sam's weakened state that was steadily getting stronger, but just barely. There was also the fact that he had practically made a life here, how could he leave it when he had grown so attacked to it? There were also the Fire Nation raids to worry about; Danny honestly did not know if Sam was strong enough to stop any of them from attacking yet.

Then there was Valerie, the first human friend he had ever made that never judged him. How could he bring himself to leave her when she needed him just as much as he needed her?

However he also had so many reasons for going with the Avatar. If he left he could learn how to firebend properly instead of only guessing what he was supposed to do. He could also stop the Fire Nation's advancement upon his forest by stopping the Fire Lord once and for all. However the major reason that Danny wanted to leave was probably because of his Mother and Jazz. Because if there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that he had to find them!

He had not seen Jazz or his mother since they rushed off to live with Vlad in the Fire Nation capitol the night after his father died. A small part of Danny did not want to blame his mother for leaving, but the larger part could not help but feel irritated that she had played right into Vlad's hands. He did not know that he could hate that man more than he did the night of the accident, but the moment they left, Danny wanted nothing more than to ring that man's calculating, scheming, and mischievous neck.

However once he got to the clearing in front of his tree house he found the most magnificent sight that made him totally forget about his troubles. In front of his house was a large white animal with brown markings, one of which was an arrow that went over its head. Danny could not believe his eyes, in front of him was an animal he thought was extinct, an Air Bison!

Danny's body acted on his most childlike tendencies that he had not felt since his parents took him to the Zoo for the first time when he was six. So in a flash, he was rushing towards the magnificent creature, excitement pumping through his veins. When he finally reached the bison he did the next thing his tendency told him to do, he hugged the animal.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, IT'S A REAL AIR BISON!" Danny yelled as he hugged the shocked beast tighter. "I never thought I'd ever live to see the day!" He continued with less enthusiasm as an overjoyed tear escaped his eye.

"Ummm… are you alright?" Danny heard Katara ask from behind him.

Shocked, and a little embarrassed, Danny let go of the bison, turned to face the girl, while scooting away from the animal. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." He said while he rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Why would you think otherwise?" He finished as he let out a nervous laugh.

Katara smiled at Danny, most likely from amusement. "No reason, his name's Appa by the way, he's Aang's."

Danny looked up at the air bison once again, that was staring at him with curiosity, and anticipation. Danny smiled at Appa, knowing all too well that eventually the air bison would sense his spiritual energy that Sam gave him. He learned a long time ago that the energy he had would send a weird sensation to the animals around him, however since it was so low, they need to be near him for a while to actually sense it. Danny also noticed that once they realize his energy they start to talk to him, which he has grown to accept.

"I figured he was Aang's since he is the last Airbender, and Appa is probably the last air bison." He stated as he started to pet Appa's head. "I think he actually came to my home village about a month ago, but those could have just been rumors."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, her face becoming less amused and more interested.

"Well before my home was burned down, a circus came to town. A lot of people said that an air bison was going to be in it; even my sister believed it. However I refused to go, for multiple reasons."

Katara looked at Danny in shock, "Wait, Appa was in a circus?"

Danny looked Katara over, confused by her words, "I don't know, I usually don't believe in most of the rumors I hear." He then looked back at Appa, who was starting to relax, "Where they true?"

Katara let out a sigh, "I don't know either, but a little over a month ago we did loose Appa to some sandbenders who sold him. They said they sold him to someone in Ba Sing Se, but he could have ended up anywhere."

Shock overwhelmed Danny, "S- so you did lose him… wow…"

"You said you didn't go to the circus… what where your reasons?" Katara asked.

Danny let out a chuckle as he remembered all the books he read about air bisons, "Because I know how loyal an airbender is to their bison, and vice versa. I figured that if the air bison really was the Avatar's the circus would end in flames. And as it would turn out, it did. The next day everyone was talking about how the air bison escaped and almost set the tent on fire."

"The man with the fire whip started it." Appa argued. Danny could not suppress a laugh as the bison finally talked.

"But that was just what I heard, I also heard about the Avatar's death, it was only because of Sam that I knew they were not true." Danny finished.

Katara looked at Danny in confusion, "Why do you call Schim Sam, and how did she know about Aang?"

"Well to answer your first question, I call her Sam because that's what her name sounded when she introduced herself to me. I was in a lot of pain from the Fire Nation's assault on my home and my senses where not exactly reliable, that and because Sam never corrected me, so the name stuck." Danny added the last part with a shrug. "But to answer your second question; it's because Aang is the bridge between the real world and the spirit world. If he dies, every spirit would know. Sam even knew when he was frozen in that iceberg and when he got out, however she never knew how either happened."

Katara seemed to accept this information with a nod, but she still had a curious look on her face. "You have lived in the Fire Nation all your life right?" She asked.

Danny nodded, "Yeah, my mom's family was actually from the capitol, but since she and her father never got along she moved here with my father and older sister."

"So… Do you know firebending?"

Danny instantly froze, not sure how he should answer. Katara herself said that her mother was killed by firebenders, so… what would she think if she knew he could? "Well…" He started but was quickly cut off.

"Oh there you are!" Sokka yelled as he came out of the house.

"He-here I am." Danny stuttered as he gestured to himself, a little relieved to be off the subject. "Where you looking for me?"

"Yeah, you missed the meeting." Sokka exclaimed.

"What meeting?" Danny asked confused as to why they would hold one.

"The meeting where we discussed when we were going to start heading out, which is soon, so you better get packing." Sokka stated and Danny scowled at the boy.

"What if I'm not ready?" He asked, his voice a low growl.

"Then we'll leave without you."

"Sokka!" Katara yelled, and Danny's breathing began to heave in anger.

"What? We're on a tight schedule. We only have a limited amount of time to get the capitol before the eclipse, so we can't afford to miss any more time!"

'_Eclipse?'_ Danny thought, his anger soon diverted, _'Does he mean the solar or lunar eclipse?'_

'_Probably solar,'_ Sam stated in his head, _'it would be the perfect time to attack the Fire Nation Capitol since all firebending will be offline.'_

"Wait, you plan on attacking the Fire Lord during a solar eclipse." Danny started, a devious smile forming on his face. "That's brilliant!"

Sokka's face turned horrified, like he just said something that could ultimately backfire on him. "What, of course not! You are just hearing things." Sokka explained with a wave of his hand, "I mean common, a solar eclipse! Those are rare and highly unlikely to appear in our lifetime."

Danny rolled his eyes, but decided to play along, "Alright, so about my time limit, when exactly is it?"

"It's soon," Sokka exclaimed, "and coming closer."

"Well in that case I don't have much time to waste." Sam, in her wolf form once again, said as she came out of another tree. "Danny can you come over here, we need to talk."

"What about?" Danny asked as he started to walk towards her. However it was at a very slow pace due to the fact that he did not want to get too far away from Appa.

'_It's about what we're going to do about the raids.'_ Sam stated mentally.

Danny let out a sigh and nodded, "I'll talk to you guys later." He stated back to Katara, Appa, and Sokka as he started to walk towards Sam at a faster pace than before. "So where are we going Sam?" Danny asked once they got a good distance away. However he was starting to regret following her when he looked back at where the bison sat and saw nothing but trees blocking his sight.

"To talk." She answered flatly.

"Couldn't we have done that _next_ to the bison?"

Sam rolled her eyes, "You'll have plenty of time to get to now Appa, but we only have a limited amount of time to talk and I can't risk the rest of them hearing us, unless you want to tell them about Phantom."

"I'd like to save that for later." Danny stated nervously, "So what is it that you want to talk about?" he asked, now focused, well somewhat, his sleep deprivation was still not totally gone.

Sam then stopped walking and Danny did a double take on the group's energy and felt that they were all still near the house. However he also felt a single human energy in the forest, but since it was a little while away, not doing any damage to the forest, and would most likely not come towards them anytime soon, he chose to ignore it.

"I talked to the Painted Lady last night." Sam started, however Danny was shocked to hear her voice full of joy instead of the usual aggravation he had grown accustomed to hearing whenever Sam brought up spirits.

"What about?" Danny asked, not entirely sure if what Sam was smiling about would harm him or not, since most of her plans tend to in some way.

"She told me something that could help both you and my forest while you are traveling the world with the Avatar."

Danny's eyes opened wide with excitement, "Really, how?!"

"Laydown." Sam said and Danny's enthusiasm deflated.

"Is this going to be like the time you told me to stand up and ended up kissing me?" He had to ask.

Sam rolled her eyes. "No, the Painted Lady said you had to sleep, so go to sleep!"

Danny looked at her skeptically, but reluctantly lied down, and before he knew it, he felt himself drift off into his dreams.

'_Good,'_ He heard Sam echo through his mind, but she sounded distant, almost like she was talking through water, _'the Painted Lady then said to reach towards my voice.'_

Danny looked around the darkness of his dream, not entirely sure if what he was hearing was actually Sam, or his active imagination. _'How?'_ He asked doing a three-sixty.

'_Just follow my voice Phantom, trust me. If we can get this to work we won't have to worry about the Fire Nation, and life in my forest will be peaceful again.'_

Hope flourished in Danny's chest, though he was not sure why. Of course he cared about the forest, but the way his heart felt, he knew that it was more extreme than just the need to protect it. However he did not question the feeling, he just allowed it to flow through him as his body soared towards Sam's voice. Then, before he knew it, he found himself inside the forest once again with a smiling Sam looking up at him.

"Nice work Phantom."

Danny looked at her confused as to what exactly he did, well until he noticed that he was floating. He looked down and found that he was in his Phantom form. However he could not remember transforming into it to begin with. "Wha-…" He started, but was quickly stopped when Sam's wolf snout gestured towards something behind him.

Danny was still slightly confused, but followed Sam's lead and found himself frozen stiff. In front of him was… _him!_

Danny's mind when into hyper drive wanting to know why exactly he was looking at a sleeping form of his _human_ half. However that was only half of why Danny was in shock, the other reason was because his human half's tattoos were glowing! He could not help but refer back to his parent's books of when the Avatar went into the Spirit World or the Avatar State his tattoos and eyes would glow.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Danny yelled in horror, "S-Sam, are we in the Spirit World?!" He asked in a lower voice, though it was still pretty loud.

Danny was surprised when he heard Sam let out a set of chuckles, like the idea was deeply amusing. "No," More laughter, "I did this so that you could still help the forest, and no one could do that through the spirit world."

Danny did not know if he should feel dumb or confused, so he settled with the ladder. "Oh, well… then why am I split?"

"Because the Painted Lady told me that a Halfa's spirit is only allowed to leave your human body when you are either meditating or sleeping. However I can't teach you how to meditate because only the air nomads were ever really good at that, so sleeping was the second best thing." Sam clarified.

"So when I sleep I can come here to help in my spirit form!" Danny yelled in excitement, as he made a mental note to thank the Painted Lady for telling Sam such a helpful trick.

"Exactly, now get back in your body. You still have a lot of work to do before you go touring the nation."

"Right…" Danny said as he turned towards his body, only to paused, not sure as to _how_ he was supposed to do what Sam said. "…Um Sam, what am I supposed to do?"

Sam looked at him shocked, but it was not because she believed him not capable of thinking about it, but because she did not know either. "I don't know, she never told me that part…" Sam started, but paused when they both heard a twig break in the not so far distance.

"Danny," Valerie's worried voice echoed through the forest, "are you alright?"

* * *

**Oh, I know, you all hate cliffies, but if I didn't have one every once in a while this would be no fun ;) I'm also sure you all were surprised and a little pissed at Jazz and Maddie for their decisions, and I don't blame you, they are too gullible. **

**Now I know I gave a trivia last chapter, and never owned up to giving you all a sneak peek, well I'll do it this time, so no trivia this week, maybe next time.**

**And one last note, since I have read and re-read this chapter a thousand times, I didn't have it in me to look over it today, so if you all see anything wrong tell me and if I think it's needed, I'll fix it. So REVIEW! I don't want any more writer's blocks!**

**~Ned**


	8. Chapter 7

**Sorry everyone for the late update again, but at least it was only by a few days and not a few months. One would think that being on Summer Vacation would give me more time to write, well you'd be wrong. Between Friends, Family, and visits by people I haven't seen in 10 years, I have had next to no time to myself. It's ridiculous! But now I have some free time... at 12:30 at night... when everyone but my sister is asleep... **

**Well on to other news! Here is chapter 7. I hope you enjoy it!**

**~Ned**

* * *

Chapter 7- Fire and Snow

Danny and Sam seemed to be stuck in place, _'If you have any bright ideas, now would be the perfect time to tell me.'_ Danny stated to Sam mentally.

Sam glared at him, _'I don't hold all the answers Phantom; you should know this by now. Just like you should have known not to yell and attract attention when there are so many humans in my forest!'_

"I know that, but this is an emergency!" Danny yelled, not really thinking about his actions.

"Danny!" Valerie yelled, and her voice was now a lot closer.

Said boy's heart seemed to have jumped out of his chest by the girl's words, _'Not good!'_

'_Nice going,'_ Sam said in aggravation, _'you should really learn to keep your mouth shut.' _Danny scowled at her, but before he could verbally defend himself Valerie broke through one of the bushes and Danny immediately knew he was toast.

Valerie stared at Danny and Sam in shock for a few moments, but once she seemed to get over her shock a scowl appeared on her face. "Spirits, I knew my father wasn't insane!" She growled, and Danny just stared at her awestruck.

'_Phantom, you heard her right?'_ Sam asked, her voice sounding just as astonished as Danny felt.

'_About her father, yeah, and I'm not a big fan of what that might mean.'_ Danny responded. Then as if the situation could not get any worse, Valerie decided that exact moment to look behind Danny to find… well Danny, with glowing red tattoos. _'Awkward.'_

"DANNY!" Valerie yelled in horror as she blindly ran past Phantom to get to the unconscious body. Danny and Sam were too shocked to stop her. "Danny, are you alright, please…Please, wake up!"

'_Phantom, we have to do something.' _Sam stated quickly, however she did not need to tell Danny twice.

'_I-I know…'_ Danny said as his mind reeled with ideas, none of them seemed to work out all that well since he did not know how to get back to his body. _'Sam, you need to get out of here.'_

'_What? No!'_

'_Trust me, please.'_

Sam stared at him a lost look in her eyes. _'I'll get the Avatar and his friends, maybe they can help.'_

It was then that an idea struck. _'Great idea! Bring them here, but warn them to hide Aang's tattoos and Appa. We don't need anyone knowing that he's alive.'_ Danny stated, knowing that as much as he trusted and cared about Valerie, she still considered herself a part of the Fire Nation and would not hesitate to inform the Fire Lord of the Avatars survival.

'_Alright, but what will you do?'_

'_Oh, me? Well I was going to hold her off until you get back, or until I figure out how to get back to my body. After all we don't want her taking my glowing butt into a village, who knows what could happen.'_

Sam nodded and in a blink of an eye she turned invisible, practically vanishing into thin air. Danny briefly wished he could do the same to avoid Valerie's questioning and/or infuriated glare. But he could not leave his body alone, not now at least.

"Don't worry Danny," Valerie said her voice slightly shaking, "I'll go get help."

'_Crap, this is where it gets messy doesn't it?'_ Danny asked himself, not sending that particular thought towards Sam for fear that she would come rushing back. "I'm sorry, but you can't do that." He said towards her.

Valerie jumped, as if just remembering his presence. "Why not," She growled, "are you going to try to stop me?"

'_Yep, definitely messy,'_ "Well… not the way you're thinking." He said while rubbing the back of his head nervously. "But I'm serious when I say he cannot leave the forest now. What happened to him is beyond your understanding." _'Great, now I feel like Old man Wai.'_ Danny thought remembering the time he kicked a ball into one of his neighbor's yard and Old man Wai had told him not to go in with the same exact words Danny just said to Val. Well Danny went in anyway and was attacked by a lot of wolfbats that the neighbor kept as pets.

Valerie's anger seemed to have skyrocketed, "I know exactly what happened, you attacked him," Now Danny was at a loss of words, "just like you did my dad! Well I won't let you do it again!"

'_Dad?!'_ Danny mentally yelled, _'I attacked Valerie's DAD!'_ Then, like it was all a horrible dream, he found everything around him turn into darkness.

* * *

"Danny!" Katara yelled as she rushed into the forest to find her lost friend. After she received the news about him from Schim she instantly rushed into the forest, not even hesitating to wait for her friends. However she still did not know the specifics, all she knew was what Schim yelled at her about Danny before she rushed into the tree house to fetch Aang, Sokka, and Toph.

When she finally reached the area she assumed Danny was (since Schim said it was just a straight line from where she came from), she was stunned at the sight in front of her. There was a girl with dark skin holding the unconscious form of Danny, who had… glowing tattoos? Katara found herself rooted to the ground at the sight, the only person she knew of that could glow like that was Aang, but his tattoos glowed blue, Danny's were red.

"Well… not the way you're thinking." Katara heard a male say in an echoed voice that reminded her of Schim's and the Painted Lady's, but his tone sounded familiar, she just could not place who at the moment. "But I'm serious when I say he cannot leave the forest now." Katara then looked at where she assumed the voice came from and was instantly speechless by what she found. In front of her was a human shaped spirit that had snow white hair and glowing green eyes, it was the demented spirit the town was so afraid of. If Katara did not know better, she would assume she was looking at a made-over Danny. He had all his features, down to the large highlight in his hair, except his clothes, hair, and eyes had changed color somehow.

However that did not change the situation. The spirit was the one that had all the towns around the forest frightened to step foot into it, and if Katara was anything like Sokka she would have assumed that the spirit was the threat that Schim warned her about, but based on the spirit's words (and the unmistakable fact that he had Danny's appearance), she had to second guess that assumption.

"What happened to him is beyond your understanding." The spirit continued, and Katara was starting to put some of the pieces together about the situation.

"I know exactly what happened," The girl that was holding Danny yelled, anger clear in her voice, "you attacked him like you did my dad! Well I won't let you do it again!"

Katara stared at the girl for a moment, trying to get a gist of the situation, but before she could put anything together a breathtaking sight took place in front of her. The demented Danny looking spirit in front of her had spontaneously dissolved into a small ball of glowing white vapor and then just suddenly disappeared. Katara was astonished by the sight, it was difficult to imagine that a spirit that could look so pure could have really done as much damage as the village described.

"Danny!" The girl yelled, knocking Katara out of her thoughts. She looked back at the two and found that Danny was awake, and his tattoos were back to normal.

Katara took that as her sign to step out of the bushed, that she had unintentionally hidden herself in. "Danny?" she said, trying to keep her cool through the situation.

Danny looked from one girl to the other, as if he was trying to think of something to say to each of them, so far it seemed like what he was trying to say to one girl was totally opposite from what he wanted to say to the other. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" He said while looking at Katara, then he looked over at the girl, "Um… Val, I thought you would be home by now."

'_So Val is her name… strange.'_ Katara thought.

"I was going to, but… I um…" Val said with a nervous smile.

Danny's face became confused, and he was about to open his mouth when a loud yell pierced the air. "DANNY!"

'_Sokka.'_ Katara thought with an exasperated sigh.

"Will you shut it, he's just over there." Toph's voice said from close by.

"Oh…sorry." Just then the three remaining kids came out of the bushes and joined the group, all of them panting from the run.

Danny looked at the three a little shocked before a sheepish smile appeared on his face. "S-sorry everyone, I didn't mean to worry you. I just went for a walk and before I knew it I passed out, I guess I should have tried to get more sleep last night." He then quickly gave the Gaang a pleading look that Katara instantly knew was his way of telling them to leave Schim out of the conversation.

"No need to apologize," Katara said with a smile.

"What do you mean no need!?" Sokka yelled, "Sch-" he started, but was quickly cut off as Toph stepped on his foot, hard, "OWCH!"

"He's just worried about our schedule." Toph said while shaking her head. "He really wants to get going as soon as possible."

The moment Toph said that Val looked both sad and terrified. "You're leaving now?" She asked looking at Danny and worry quickly replaced the other two emotions, apparently whatever happened to him had deeply affected her, but she did not mention it as she continued. "Are you sure you can't wait a few more days?"

"Sorry, but we really are on a tight schedule and should get going. Isn't that right… Lee?" Danny said while looking at Sokka, apparently thinking ahead of everyone else that Sokka was not a very good name to go by in the Fire Nation.

On any other occasion Katara would have agreed with Val about leaving so soon, after all whatever happened to Danny was anything but natural, but since he seemed fine she could only assume that he was fit to at least fly. "I think Danny's right, we should get going. Lee, you and Kuzon go head and take Danny to the tent, Toph and I will meet up."

Sokka and Aang exchanged confused looks before then shrugged and went to take Danny back to the tree house, although he complained that he could walk fine all by himself the whole time.

"So, you know Danny?" Val asked with a skeptical look aimed towards Katara when said teen was out of ear shot.

"Yeah, we've known him for a while now." Toph pointed out before Katara could get anything out herself.

"So how often do you travel?"

"We normally don't like to stay in one place for too long being nomads and all, but Danny insisted we stay here a little longer than usual." Katara could not suppress a smile at how easy it was for Toph to talk so normally about what they did, even if it was not the whole truth.

Val looked satisfied with the answer, though she did not seem all that happy about them. "When do you think you'll be back here?"

Katara was shocked by the question and tried to express that to Toph in hopes they could come up with something together, but quickly remembered the girl was blind so she quickly came up with a response all her own.

"It should be sometime around the Summer solstice, maybe before if we make good time." Which was technically not a lie; the solar eclipse was not that far away from the Summer solstice, which is when Sozin's commit will be making an appearance.

At that news Val seemed to perk up, "So only a few months!"

"Hopefully." Toph mumbled to herself.

* * *

To be totally honest Danny was a little relieved that Katara found him when she did, and let Sokka and Aang take him away from Valerie before she could ask any unnecessary questions that would eventually reveal the unnatural reality that he was Phantom, and a Halfa.

Then to add to his relief he saw Sam waiting for him by the house. Sokka complained to her that there was no problem there, that she worried them about nothing. The nothing being Danny's lie that he passed out, though it was only meant to fool Valerie, no one else.

However the relief and amusement the situation brought could not get rid of the overwhelming amount of guilt he felt. He, Danny Phantom, had attacked Valerie's Dad, and caused him to be considered insane by the Fire Nation. So all in all, he alone caused Valerie's life to go downhill. Talk about ironic.

After a couple minutes of Sokka and Sam bickering and Danny mulling over her self-loathing, Toph and Katara finally came back, with Valerie nowhere in sight.

"Hey Danny," Katara stated as walked over to him, "how are you feeling?"

'_Bitter, I attacked my friend's dad.'_ "Better now that I'm on my feet, thanks."

Katara did not seem convinced, but did not push the matter. "Good, cause we should really get going."

Danny only nodded and started to head towards Appa, who was now out of hiding since Valerie was now headed out of the forest. However before he got a chance to jump onto the saddle on the bison's back something white literally flew onto his head. Danny, who has started to get used to a lot of animals flying onto his head recently, only sighed as the animal stuck his face in his.

"Wow, Appa wasn't joking, you really do have the same energy as Schim." The animal stated as his head tilted in confusion. "How is that possible?"

"Um…" Danny stated, a little confused as to how the lemur actually flew onto his head, or even how something so uncommon to the Fire Nation made its way into it, but once he thought about it, the answer came to him. "You're a flying lemur…" he finally stated, although he was confused as to how a lone lemur manage to survive the Fire Nation raids on the air temples, unless Aang froze him in the iceberg too.

"Oh, that's Momo!" Aang said as he pulled him off Danny's head. "Katara, Sokka, and I found him in the southern Air Temple."

Danny smiled and nodded at the information. "Cool, I've always wondered what they looked like. My parents only had a few books about the Air Temples back when they were investigating Spirits, and none of the books actually mentioned flying lemurs much."

"Well they should!" Momo stated in aggravation.

"Your parents studied Spirits?" Aang asked in amazement.

"Yeah, for as long as I can remember my parents have always wanted to get into the spirit world, and until recently, nothing would have stopped them from trying."

"Until recently?" Katara asked.

"Well… the day my home was attacked was hard on everyone. My father was killed, I was injured and left for dead, my mother and sister thought I was actually dead. But right before the attack I … I yelled at my parents about their obsession with spirits, and I guess my mom decided to leave it behind after she thought I died. So shortly after the incident she took my sister and left for the Capital."

"Why didn't you go looking for them?" Aang asked, sympathy on his face.

Danny shook his head. "That's not important."

"Yeah," Sam cut in before anyone could argue, "right now you all should be leaving. You have a Fire Lord to stop after all."

"Those two are right," Sokka stated, "we can worry about all this another time, right now we need to leave before we get too far behind schedule."

Danny, who was slowly starting to like Sokka nodded and quickly mounted Appa, and Momo quickly flew away from Aang and perched himself on Danny's shoulder. "Sorry about your parents."

"Thanks." Danny whispered as quietly as he could to Momo as the rest of the group mounted Appa.

'_Good bye Phantom, come back soon.'_ Sam said as she turned into her human form and waved them good bye.

'_Bye Sam, see you in a few hours.'_

* * *

The moment Danny realized he was out of the forest was the moment he felt excited. For years he has wanted to travel, his main reason was that he wanted to get away from his parents reputation, but after the attack, he has wanted nothing more than to get his family back and then attack Vlad with all he had. Now he can. Now he was traveling like he always wanted. And now he could fix everything; his family, the Forest, and the world, and all he had to do was help the Avatar.

"So when do we stop?" Danny asked as he looked down at the villages flying passed him.

"At nightfall," Sokka stated, "we'll make camp and rest, then we'll travel some more."

Danny looked over at Sokka with a confused look. "You don't want to take in the sights?"

"Nope."

Danny just looked at him a little longer before he turned to Katara. "He's all work and no play, isn't he?" he asked her as he jabbed his thumb in Sokka's direction.

Katara let out a few giggles before answering. "You should have seen him in the south pole."

"He must have been very grouchy if he's gotten better since then."

"He hasn't." Appa stated, and Momo nodded, but the group did not say anything, they simply laughed.

It was not until around nightfall that they finally landed, and it was only then that his stomach growled to finally be fed. To be honest, ever since he became a Halfa, he realized that he hardly ate or slept as much as he used to. So when he saw something soar across the sky, his hunger was forgotten.

Above him he saw a couple lights shoot across the sky just like the first. "Hey, guys!" He yelled as he continued to look at the beautiful scene.

"It's beautiful!" Katara exclaimed.

"What?" Toph asked in confusion.

"It's a meteor shower!" Danny exclaimed as he looked around for the perfect spot to relax. He found a steep hill and smiled with joy, "Over here!" He yelled again as he laid down on the base of the hill to watch the spectacle. Everyone followed his lead, Toph a little less excited then the rest, but that was to be expected.

"Wow, this is amazing to watch." Katara stated as she watched the scene.

"Kinda makes you realize how insignificant we are." Sokka added with a thoughtful voice.

"Ne," Toph started with disinterest, "you've seen nothing once you've seen it a thousand times."

It was then that one of the meteors seemed to go off course from the others, and the hair on Danny's arms started to lift. "Ohhhh." Everyone admired the single meteor as it, strangely enough, seemed to be headed straight towards them, not that Danny was worried or anything.

"Oh man, you have never not seen anything like this." Sokka exclaimed to Toph as everyone sat up to get a better look at the meteor, that was now too close for Danny's comfort.

"GET DOWN!" Danny yelled as he practically shoved all that were near him, that just so happened to be Toph and Aang, to the ground. It was only when he felt something fly past him that he got up to see what happened.

In that instant there was a huge bang in the distance as a blue explosion dented the earth. Everyone started at each other for a split second before rushing to get onto Appa.

* * *

"The fire is going to destroy that town!" Katara yelled as Appa flew towards where the meteor smashed into the earth.

"Not if we can stop it!" Aang yelled as Appa finally landed and Toph, Aang, Sokka, and Danny jumped off of him.

"There is a creek here. I'll bend the water onto the fire." Katara exclaimed as she and Appa took off for said creek.

It was then that Danny's body froze, _'She's a waterbender?!'_ He practically yelled in his head with excitement. _'Finally, someone can teach me not only to icebend, but to waterbend too!'_

'_Phantom, please try to remember what form bends which element.'_ Sam stated to Danny, with slight sadness in her voice.

At that his smile evaporated, _'Crap, only Phantom bends water, which means Fenton cannot learn it.'_

'_Do not be so sure.' _Sam stated quickly. _'I'm sure that if you pay close attention when she waterbends you can learn the moves yourself. You were always good at visual learning.'_

'_Thanks.'_

"Toph, let's make a trench to stop the fire from coming any closer!" Aang yelled as he and Toph took off to the impact zone, successfully knocking Danny out of his conversation with Sam.

"What should I do?" Sokka asked as he stared at his weird shaped weapon that Danny could only guess was a Water Tribe club.

Aang stared at Sokka for a brief moment. When Momo flew into his line of sight he stated, what Danny assumed, was the first thing that came to his mind, "Keep an eye on Momo!" then started for the fire again.

Danny looked at Aang, then Sokka, then Momo who just perched himself on Sokka's neck.

"So what, I'm just a lemur sitter?" Sokka asked, Danny just smiled in amusement until Sokka stared up at Momo and started to pat his head. "There, there, feel better?" Danny could not help but crack up into uncontrollable laughter. "What are you doing?" Sokka yelled at him.

Danny simply shrugged, "I don't know, but if you want I could lemur sit Momo."

"No!" Sokka said as he grabbed Momo off him and hugged him like a child that Danny was planning on stealing, he only ended up laughed harder.

It was then that the earth shook and Danny looked over to see Aang and Toph moving a large layer of earth so that they could move the fire into one small area and could not spread. However when they did that some flames jumped across and landed near Sokka and Momo, who both started to put out the flames. Normally Danny would try to help, but considering his status here, he was practically powerless, unless they wanted him to make it worse by attempting to fire bend. No, he was powerless, probably more so than Sokka, who at least had a club to beat the fire. Danny had nothing, just uncontrolled firebending.

It was only when he heard Aang yell, "Stand clear," did Danny realized he was stuck in thought. He looked over to see what he was yelling about, until he saw a huge wave of water come right at him, only to turn into snow shortly afterwards. "Good work everyone!" Aang exclaim as Danny unburied himself from the snow.

"H-hey! Why is it snowing in the middle of spring?!" Danny yelled, as Sokka's head popped out of another pill of snow with Momo sliding across the ice.

* * *

**There you have it everyone, don't forget to review and inform me of any mistakes. As for my Runaway in Jump Fans, the story will be updated next Tuesday... Hopefully *sigh***

**Well onto the trivia! Let's see... what could I ask... Oh I know! What Danny Phantom Character is going to be making their big entrance in the next chapter! Your clue... they went to school with him in the show.**

**Have fun, the winners get a sneak peek into the next chapter as usual! And don't forget to review everyone, I want to see your thoughts, opinions, and if i have made any mistakes so far. I'll even accept PMs to those who do not want their opinions shown to the public.**

**~Ned**


	9. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone... Sorry for the long wait... again... but I'll try to make it up to you by cutting this short so I can introduce the arrival of our DP character!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**~Ned**

* * *

Chapter 8- The Sword

"Do you really expect us to believe that _you_ have snoring problems?" Toph asked with an amused laugh. "If you really want to help us sleep better you should take Sokka with you." She finished as she jabbed her thumb behind her where Sokka just so happened to be setting up his sleeping bag. "I'm sure even Appa will thank you."

"Hey!"

Danny laughed at her statement, but started to back away from the group as he did so. "That is a very valid point, but I think I'll be just fine on my own, and honestly I'd prefer it."

Katara looked over Danny for a second before letting out a sigh. "I think it's fair for you to choose where you sleep, after all we did take you away from Schim and her forest."

Everyone looked at Katara in shock, even Danny. He did not expect her to be so laid back. He had thought that she would be the mama bear of everyone in the group based on the way she cooked, cleaned, and somewhat ordered the whole team around.

"Um… thanks." Danny stated as he started to back away from the group again, "Just yell if you need me." And with that he zipped away from the group to find a perfect area to sleep.

"_So they were they alright with you sleeping alone?"_ Sam asked in Danny's head as he walked through the dense forest. He was generally amazed that they still shared their mental connection so far apart.

"_Yeah, I'll be there in a second."_ Danny stated as he continued to look around for the perfect place where the Gaang could not find him even if they went snooping around.

He eventually found the picture-perfect spot. It was a bundle of branches up a large pine tree. No one would find him there unless they had advanced sight like Danny achieved thanks to his spirit half.

However before he had a chance to climb, or fly, up the tree he heard something. "So… does wanting to sleep alone have anything to do with the glowing tattoos I saw this morning?"

Danny could have sworn he jumped ten feet into the air when he heard a female voice speak behind him. To be completely honest he half expected Valerie to be standing behind him, but instead he found Katara, with a suspicious look on her face and her arms crossed.

"Wh-wh-what tattoos?" He stuttered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"The ones that are all over your body." Katara pointed out as one of her eyebrows started to rise. She then sighed again as she shook her head slowly. "Do they have anything to do with the white haired spirit in Schim's forest?"

Danny stared at Katara totally shocked, _'White haired spirit… does she mean Phantom?!'_ "Ho-How much did you see?"

"Enough. Now what does the spirit have to do your tattoos?"

Danny could not help but look away from her questioning face. Never once had he had such a hard time answering one simple question. However he was half tempted to tell her the honest truth.

He looked back at her again, with curious eyes. One question plaguing his mind. "How much waterbending do you know?" He finally voiced, it was probably the number one reason he would ever consider telling anyone about Phantom. After all, he needed to know how to water bend, otherwise all he would have against all the raids in the forest is his ice, and sooner or later that will not be enough.

"Don't try to change the subject!" She stated irritably.

Danny could not help but sigh. "I'm trying not to, but if you truly want me to answer your question honestly I _really_ need to know how much you know about waterbending."

Katara looked right into Danny's eyes, as if measuring how much she trusted him. "I know enough."

Danny could not help but smile. "Awesome, so if I was able to waterbend would you teach me?"

Katara looked startled, "Maybe, but you said you were raised in the Fire Nation. I honestly can't imagine a waterbender living their entire lives here without being detected."

Danny smiled at the statement, which was totally true. "You see I've only been able to waterbend for a couple months now."

Katara looked at Danny wearily. "What do you mean? Most benders are at least able to bend when they are young."

"Good, now we've made a fool circle back to the beginning!" Danny stated in excitement. "Now, before I can answer anything else I need you to promise me a few things." Katara seemed reluctant but eventually nodded. "Good, now first, no screaming; second, no attacking me in any way; and third, please don't tell the others, they might just take it worse than you're about to."

Katara looked at Danny totally startled. "Wha…what exactly am I supposed to be expecting?"

"Something you've probably never seen before." Danny answered with a shrug.

"A-alright I promise to not to scream, attack, or… tell my friends what you have to tell me. Now please answer my question."

Danny nodded, "To start off, for as long as I can remember I have never been able to bend anything, but when the Fire Nation attacked everything changed. It was around that time that the white haired spirit, or Phantom, came to the forest. When he appeared Schim had come to recognize that he was a spirit called a Halfa. The reason is… well he is only half spirit and half… well… me?" Danny then flinched, expecting Katara to react in a violent or even loud way, but when he looked over to her, after hearing nothing, she saw that she had a confused look on her face.

"Are you trying to say… that _you_ are Phantom… a spirit…? How?"

Danny looked at Katara, not entirely sure how she was taking this so well. "Well, when the soldiers killed my dad they had seriously injured me. To the point they actually thought I was dead. So they ended up dumping me in the forest, where Schim found me and gave me some of her spiritual energy. I believe a similar transaction was used on a princess in the Northern Water Tribe…"

"You mean Princess Yue?!" Katara exclaimed.

"Ah… maybe… was she saved by the moon spirit?" Katara nodded. "Then yeah, that would be her."

Katara then seemed confused. "Wait, Yue's hair turned white when she was human, why is yours still black now?"

"Oh, well… I can't be sure… but if I could guess the princess got a lot of spiritual energy from the moon spirit making her almost a spirit herself. Sam had tried to do a similar thing with me. However instead of trying to make me mostly spirit she tried to make me completely spirit, but I messed everything up by accidentally giving her some of her energy back, turning me into a Halfa."

"That is extraordinary!" Katara exclaimed, "So now you're able to become a spirit and protect Schim's forest when you are sleeping!"

Danny was about to put on a cocky smile and make a smart remark, but when he realized what Katara was stating he sighed. "Actually I'm able to become Phantom whenever I want." He then let a single white ring appear around his waist, however before Katara could make sense of the magnificent light it split, one going down, the other going up, until the unmistakable spirit she now knew as Phantom stood before her. "See," Danny stated with a triumphant smile. "I'm just able to split Fenton from Phantom while I sleep."

Katara looked him over before nodding, "So that it why you wanted to sleep alone, so everyone else won't see your tattoos glowing."

Danny smiled at her, "Correct!" He yelled as he smiled widely. "Now, when you said you knew _'enough'_ waterbending, you did mean you knew enough to teach me right?"

* * *

"These people have no idea how close they were to getting toasted last night." Aang stated as he sat down with his breakfast.

"Yeah, the worst thing about being in disguise is that we don't get the hero worship anymore. I miss the love." Toph stated with depression, while Danny just stared at them with a smile. Sure he should be a little put down that he was not a part of the 'save innocent people' team, but after his talk with Katara last night and successfully kicking yet another raid out of Sam's forest nothing could ruin his good mood.

"You all really got worshipped?" He asked as he stared at them all in awe.

"Yeah, all the time!" Toph exclaimed. "Being in hiding really sucks." She finished as she laid her cheek on her hand.

"Boohoo, poor heroes." Sokka complained as he sat by himself on the ledge.

"What's your problem? You haven't even touched your smoked sea slug." Katara examined.

'_It's only when a platypusbear stops eating that you know something is wrong.'_ Danny thought with a small smile. That was the one of the first ever saying Sam said to him that sounded like a stereotypical spirit like thing for her to say. It was the day after he realized his mother and sister were leaving that Sam said that to him after he refused to eat for three whole days, practically pouting.

"It's just…" Sokka started, and Danny could already tell where this was going, "You guys can do all this awesome bending stuff like putting out forest fires and flying around than make other stuff fly around." Everyone at the table exchanged looks, except for Danny; he kept his eyes on Sokka. "I can't fly around, okay. I can't do anything."

"That's not true," Katara started, "no one can read a map like you."

"I can't read at all!" Toph exclaimed.

Danny shook his head at their statements, knowing that trying to point out his good points was not what Sokka wanted, he wanted to do something amazing, something worthwhile, something that would make him equal to everyone else in the group.

"Yeah, and who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments all the time?" Aang added as he looked around until he found Katara. "I mean look at Katara's hair right," He then picked up a part of it, "what's up with that?"

"What?" Katara asked in both shock and embarrassment as she pulled her hair out of his hands. It took all of Danny's willpower to keep his laughter down. "What's wrong with my hair?"

"Nothing…" Aang started, apparently trying to fix his mistake, "I was just trying too…"

"Look." Sokka cut him off, "I appreciate the effort, but the fact is, each of you is so amazing and so special, and I'm…not. I'm just the guy in the group who's regular."

Normally Danny would point out that he was just as regular, but that would be a lie. Sure as far as most of them knew he was regular, but if he really wanted to he could have helped the Gaang, but at the risk of letting Phantom out of the bag.

Katara then got up and started for Sokka until she was sitting next to him. "I'm sorry you're feeling so down, but I hope you know that none of us see you that way."

Danny was impressed by her efforts, but knew his feeling had nothing to do with them or their opinions. He felt so useless because he saw himself that way, and knew that no one was going to convince him but himself.

"I know something that's going to feel better!" Katara exclaimed and Danny was a little shocked by her sudden chipperness.

"You do?" Sokka asked, his voice only slightly hopeful.

* * *

"SHOPPING!" Sokka yelled as he clapped in delight and ran to the nearest weapons rack that looked even the slightest bit interesting.

"Seriously…" Danny started looking around, "Shopping makes him feel better?"

"Yeah, especially now that he needs new weapons," Katara explained. "After all he can't use his Water Tribe weapons in public. Why don't you pick something out also?" Katara stated and Danny nodded and started to look around.

After last night Katara knew almost everything Danny did about what being a Halfa entailed, including only being able to waterbend in Phantom mode. However he kept his firebending abilities to himself, still not sure as to how the rest of the group would take it. So getting some weapons was probably a good idea since he was not going to learn how to control his firebending anytime soon.

As Danny went from weapons rack to weapons rack he found nothing. The spears were a little too long and would be useless in Danny's incapable hands, he later classified the nun chucks as 'off-limits' the moment he saw Sokka hit himself in the head with one. And none of the swords looked interesting, even if he did know how to use one. Too bad he never took his mother's offers when he had the chance, she was a master.

When Danny gave up he went to check out Sokka's predicament, which seemed to have gotten better once he saw a weapons rack filled with swords that made all others in the store look like insignificant sticks. How Danny knew the difference, well his mother had a large collection of swords. A majority of them were made by a man whose name Danny had long since forgotten. However Danny remembered that out of all of them she had one, and only one, that she made herself.

"You have a good eye." The shop keeper stated as he walked over to Sokka, the rest of the group following suit. "That is an original from Piandao, the greatest swords master and sword maker in Fire Nation history. He lives in the big castle up the road from here." He then walked away, as it knowing that no one in the group could afford the swords, which was true.

Danny looked at the swords in front of him with a curious look on his face, _'Piandao…?'_

"That's it!" Aang yelled, startling Danny a bit. "That's what you needed all along Sokka."

Danny rolled his eyes, his past thoughts forgotten. _'Lee, call him Lee!'_

"A sword?" Sokka asked.

"Not the sword, a master." Aang stated as Sokka then picked up one of the swords, measuring his odds. "We've all had masters to help us get better. We should see if you could study with Piandao."

"That's a great idea!" Katara stated, "I could have never gotten where I am without master Paku. Everyone needs a teacher."

"I learned from badger moles." Toph added. "They don't talk but they're still good teachers."

Sokka then unsheathed the sword and looked at it closer. "I would be nice to be a master sword fighter… Alright," he finally decided, "I'll talk to him."

* * *

Danny and Sokka looked at the huge red and gold door in front of them. It had taken a while for Sokka to convince the group that he should go alone, and even longer for Danny to convince everyone that he should go too. After all, Danny did know Fire Nation customs and could help, also because he could also use a good sword, and the knowledge on how to hold one.

So Danny stood with Sokka as he started to knock on the door. However, just as Sokka put his hand on the knocker Danny recognized something. On the door was the Fire Nation symbol, but that was not what caught his interest, it was what was surrounding the symbol, a golden image of a Pia Sho piece that he instantly knew was the White Lotus. He was so focused on the image that he did not notice the man who opened the door, or what Sokka was saying to him until he saw the man hold out his hand.

Danny look at the man for a moment until he noticed that he wanted something. "Well… ahhhh…" Sokka said as he checked his clothes, for who knows what.

Danny was about to pull out some money he was able to scrounge up in the forest when the man sighed and let them in. "Let's get this over with." The man said as he and Sokka started to walk inside, Danny following shortly behind them. As they continued to walk Danny thought back to the door and why the man would have a Pia Sho piece on his door. He had been taught how to play by both his parents, though it was his mother that got his father so into it. A sad smile appeared on his face as he thought about his parent's Pia Sho matches. However the memories were shoved into the back of his mind when he realized that they had stopped in a large room with a middle age man painting inside, his back facing them.

Sokka immediately walked into the room and bowed before the man. "Master, my name is Sokka and I wish to be instructed in the way of the sword." Danny all but slapped his forehead when he heard Sokka give the master his real name.

"Sokka, that's an unusual name…" the master started making Danny's heart jump.

So before Sokka could give him some weird or stupid explanation Danny jumped in. "I'm sorry master, but _Lee_ here is fond of making up nicknames for himself. I'm not entirely sure where he got the name from, but please, call him Lee so his ego doesn't get any bigger than it already is."

The master seemed to pause as Danny's words. "I see you brought a friend." He stated casually to Sokka, "If it is not too much to ask, but can you send him outside."

Danny was about to argue that he was here to learn also, but before he could he was forcefully pulled out by the man that led them into the room. "Wait here." The man said as he closed the door in Danny's face.

Danny stared at the door in shock, not sure why he was so forcefully removed before he could say much of anything. He was about to barge his way back into the room, if not so much to get permission to be trained, but to attempt to save Sokka before he could mess everything up. But right as Danny backed up to give the door a good kick someone came literally running down the hall with a packaged wrapped in some kind of cloth. However Danny, being as clueless as he was, did not see the boy, and right when he backed up, the poor boy ran right in front of him, and ended up tripping on Danny's foot.

"Whoa!" The boy screamed at the packaged he was carrying was flung into the air, and he started falling towards the ground. Danny looked at the scene in shock, before he realized that the package the boy was holding was actually a sword that had come out of its cloth wrapping and was now coming back down, right at the boy. Danny did not have time to think. The moment he realized the boy was in danger was the moment all rational thinking was flown out the window.

"Watch out!" Danny yelled at he tackled the boy towards the door that he planned on kicking down. They were both flung into the room just as the sword stuck itself into the wooden floor where the boy was not even a second ago, however not before giving Danny a cut on the leg when he and the boy finally hit the ground.

"Danny/Tucker!" Sokka and the Master yelled at the same time, shocked by the sudden intrusion.

Danny looked up at the two who were now rushing towards them. All he could really do in this situation was put a sheepish smile on his face and say, "Surprise?"

* * *

"I'm sorry Master, I should have been watching where I was going." The boy, Tucker, said to the master with a bow. Tucker, the boy Danny unfortunately tripped then saved, was probably the strangest boy Danny had ever met. His clothes still seemed Fire Nation, but had strange alterations like his shirt seemed to have twenty pockets and his pants seemed to have over a dozen more. He also wore a red hat that would usually be just plain weird, but actually looked really good on him.

Piandao smiled down on Tucker, the sword that almost hurt the boy in his hand, unwrapped. It did not seem like much, but for some odd reason Danny thought it was the most breathtaking sword he had ever seen, and he's seen a lot. It seemed to be made of regular steel, but seemed to glow anyway. The hilt was probably the most magnificent hilt he has ever seen. It was made of white bark that seemed to be formed into an elegant design with a large white marble looking stone imbedded in the middle, like the bark grew with the marble inside of it.

"Don't worry about it Tucker," Piandao stated, causing Danny to look away from the sword, "as long as you are unharmed everything is alright." The master stated as he set the sword on his painting table.

Danny looked down in shame. If it had not been for his carelessness Tuck, Danny's new nickname for the kid, would not have been in danger in the first place. However when he looked down he saw the place where the sword had cut him. It had not been too bad, only a small scratch that would easily mend in no more than a day or two thanks to the spiritual healing he inherited from Sam. However where he expected the scratch he found nothing, the pain had long evaporated and his clothes had even taken it upon themselves to mend, and he had only been scratched a few minutes ago. To say that Danny was shocked would be an understatement.

"So your name is Danny right?" Tucker asked with a wide smile.

Danny looked over to him, a little startled by the boy's bluntness. "Yeah, and you're Tucker. Look man, I'm really sorry about tripping you." He said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it dude, I should actually be thanking you, if it wasn't for you I'd be a Tuckabob right now."

Danny let out a chuckle, "It was nothing."

"Dude?" Sokka asked with a curious look on his face. "What is a dude?"

Tuck smiled widely at the question. "It's a word Tucker made up not too long ago." Piandao stated before the young teen could get much out. "It's what he calls most men."

Danny let a wide smile spread across his face, "That's awesome!" he said looking over to Tuck. "You really just made that up?"

Tucker nodded. "Yeah, I've invented a lot of stuff! You should see my PDA, it's a Personal Data Assessment device."

Piandao let out a sigh, "Tucker, you'll have to wait to show them. I have to get started on Sokka's training."

Danny looked up at the master in shock. "You'll teach him?" he asked. The master nodded slowly, and Danny looked at him then Sokka who smiled triumphantly. "Then master, will you be willing to train me?"

Piandao looked at Danny in shock. "Your name is Danny correct?" said boy nodded. "That is a rare name here in the Fire Nation…" He said with a knowing smile. "Well I'll teach you, under one condition."

Danny looked at the master a little shocked, then to Sokka, who looked confused, then to Tuck, who had a similar face to Sokka's. He then looked back at the master, "What would that be sir?"

"You fight Tucker first."

* * *

**Yes... I know... in the first chapter I said that Tucker would not be in the story, but after many people throwing ideas at me it was to hard to resist. However I did mention me changing my mind in the small chapter (4.5 or 4 and a half) I made with Valerie, read it if you don't believe me ;) So as I said, here he is, as the greatest sword master's assistant! (you can thank reviewers like almostinsane for that :D)**

**Alright here is when I have to say some bad news. Since my schedule has been so off lately I cannot promise that I can update on a regular bases like I used to. I might be able to when I get back to school, but I can't promise anything Sorry :(**

**So review, PM me, whatever. I'll even take evil flames at this point... I deserve then *Holds head in shame***

**~Ned**


	10. Cool Info!

**Before you get the wrong idea, no this note is not about me stopping or giving away my story, it is simply about something that involves my story. So read on please for some amazing news :3**

* * *

**Did you all know there is going to be a new season of The Legend of Korra coming out? (In September to be precise) It's about spirits! So if any of you are interested in seeing sneak peaks of it look for 'The legand of Korra- book 2 Trailer' on Youtube, it is AWESOME!**

**I just thought you would all like to know, especially since it will be mostly about spirits and of course Danny is Half spirit in my story. Then to add more awesomeness to it, the huge Owl from the Library in the Dessert (in Aang's adventures obviously) will be in it! The story also seemed to be going around the Avatar world (instead of just being in republic city like the first season)**

**Also as a little side note. If anything from the Legend of Korra's new season disproves anything that goes on in my story I refuse to change a thing (unless I think it will be a good idea to do so) therefore I will hear NO comments about how my story is wrong, though I would love to hear your thoughts about either the new season. Thank you.**

**~Ned**

***Warning: this notice will self destruct when the season comes out on Nick***


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